Reform Wales leader slammed for campaigning in Clacton as wildfire gutted homes in his constituency

Emily Price

Reform’s leader in Wales has faced a backlash after offering his “thoughts and prayers” to victims of a wildfire that gutted homes in his constituency, before joining campaigners in Clacton where he said his “focus” was to help Nigel Farage “fight the establishment”.

In a post published to social media on Thursday morning (August 13) Dan Thomas offered his thanks to emergency service workers tackling a massive blaze that destroyed homes in Newbridge.

It came as both South Wales and Mid and West Wales Fire Services declared major incidents amid pressures on them from fires in multiple locations.

Sharing an image of burned out houses in Newbridge to Facebook, Thomas, who is the Member of the Senedd for Casnewydd Islwyn, wrote: “My thoughts and prayers are with all those impacted by the fires in Newbridge. Thanks to the emergency services for tackling this.”

Three hours later, Thomas published a video to his social media accounts as he announced he was in Clacton where the Reform group in the Senedd were “out in force to help Nigel win big”.

The by-election was called when Reform UK leader Nigel Farage quit his parliamentary seat, before campaigning against comedy candidate Count Binface to win it back, following questions about a £5 million donation he received from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne.

In a video posted to Facebook during the day of the vote, Thomas said: “This election is a fight against the establishment. An establishment that wants to tear Reform down.

“But today we are going to show them what we are made of. I would like to thank all the Reform supporters who have come down today and over the last few weeks.

“A special thank you to those who have come down from Wales. Of course Nigel was a massive help to us in Wales during the Welsh parliament election campaign.

“Now if you live in Clacton and you’ve not voted yet, please go out and vote for Nigel.

“Remind your family and friends today is polling day and we need a good turn out and that’s my focus for the rest of the day, to go out there and help get that big turnout for Nigel.”

Reform’s leader in the Senedd faced criticism over his choice to travel to Clacton while residents in his constituency were facing the devastating impact of a major blaze.

Following Farage’s victory on Friday morning, Mr Thomas shared images of himself and fellow Reform Senedd Members campaigning alongside their party leader.

Captioning the image he wrote: “My thanks to all those from Reform UK Wales who helped Nigel secure such a resounding victory! We met so many committed Reformers from across the UK.”

Reform MSs pictured campaigning in Clacton-on-Sea included Llŷr Powell, Claire Archibald, Helen Jenner, Cai Parry Jones, Joe Martin, Art Wright, Iain McIntosh, Francesca O’Brien, Stephen Senior and Steven Rodaway, as well as Reform’s Head of Wales, Torfaen councillor David Thomas.

Bin

Plaid Cymru Brycheiniog Tawe Nedd MS Rebeca Phillips called out the Reform group for spending their summer recess “campaigning against a bin in Essex” instead of spending time their constituencies, many of which were affected by wildfires.

She said: “When presented with an opportunity to be out in their constituencies over the last few weeks, Reform MSs declined and chose to go over the border to help their struggling boss in Clacton waste hundreds of thousands of pounds of public money on a failed publicity stunt.

“Not only did Nigel Farage spend his summer fighting with an extraterrestrial dustbin, but a gaggle of newly elected Reform MSes decided to abandon their constituents to take part in the farce.

“Whilst Reform UK have ignored Wales, Plaid Cymru MSs have been meeting local people and businesses in constituencies across Wales, we’ve been standing up for communities struggling with wildfires, and we’ve been taking action on the things they care about – proving that Plaid Cymru is the only party that stands up for Wales.”

First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth attended a COBR meeting with Prime Minister Andy Burnham on Wednesday (August 12) to discuss the impact of Wales’ wildfires. The Welsh Government later requested the Army to provide additional support to firefighters.

Win

Farage secured 22,239 vote, taking 63.34% of the electorate’s support to regain his seat as MP for Clacton.

He was criticised for not attending the count, saying he had been advised by Essex Police not to. The force later disputed this saying they had given no such instruction to any of the by-election candidates.

Plaid Cymru Blaenau Gwent Caerffili Rhymni MS Delyth Jewell said Farage had “form” for not attending by-election counts.

In a post to X, she wrote: “Last year, in Caerphilly, he was reportedly waiting in a lay-by outside Machen, ready to descend if Reform won.

“Only, Plaid won, and Farage never showed. But boycotting your own result treats democracy as being somehow optional.”

Welsh Labour activist and policy writer Chris Carter branded Farage a “chicken” and claimed the Reform UK leader “did the same” for the Casnewydd Islwyn count.

Following Farage’s re-election in Clacton the parliamentary standards investigation into the £5 million gift he received from a crypto billionaire resumed.

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