Tice accuses former Reform MS of ‘lying’ about her beliefs

Nation.Cymru staff

Reform UK’s deputy leader has accused a former party MS who defected to Plaid Cymru earlier this week of having “lied” about her political beliefs during Reform’s vetting process.

Richard Tice made the accusation following Sarah Cooper-Lesadd’s decision to leave Reform just four months after being elected to the Senedd and join Plaid Cymru.

Speaking to BBC Wales, Mr Tice was asked how Ms Cooper-Lesadd had passed Reform’s vetting process after subsequently revealing that she had voted Remain in the 2016 EU referendum and now supported Welsh independence.

He said: “If someone deliberately misleads you, and fibs to you, and lies to you, then it doesn’t matter how much vetting you do.

“So, why don’t you ask her that question? How can you turn from being a unionist to a separatist?

“How can you turn from being someone who believes in defending our borders to want to open the borders and become a nation of sanctuary? The whole thing’s absurd.”

Mr Tice added: “I’m not in charge of vetting. Look, we make lots of brilliant, fast-moving decisions and judgements.

“That’s why we’ve grown to be the second-largest party in Wales so quickly from a standing start. We never claim that we’re perfect. You know, we’re real people.”

His criticism comes despite a significant number of Reform’s own Senedd group having previously represented other political parties or served as independent politicians.

Of Reform’s current 33 MSs, at least 12 have previous political affiliations outside the party or have previously served as independents.

They include Laura Anne Jones and James Evans, who were both previously Conservative MSs, while Reform’s former Welsh leader Dan Thomas was formerly a Conservative councillor and leader of Barnet Council.

Other current Reform MSs with previous Conservative or independent political backgrounds include Iain McIntosh, Louise Emery, Tom Montgomery, Stephen Senior, Jason O’Connell, David Hughes and Claire Johnson-Wood.

Ms Cooper-Lesadd herself was also previously a Conservative before being selected by Reform for May’s Senedd election.

She has strongly denied claims from Reform officials that she manipulated the party’s selection process.

Speaking to Nation.Cymru earlier this week, she said: “The selection process was overwhelmingly focused on media skills and public speaking. That was the metric for ‘success’.”

Plaid Cymru also rejected Mr Tice’s accusation.

A party spokesperson said: “Sarah has been honest about her political journey and has acknowledged that her views have changed since she first entered politics.”

Ms Cooper-Lesadd said when announcing her defection that Reform was “far more interested in division, opposition and headlines than in finding solutions”.

She also accused the party’s UK leadership of having “no interest in Wales” and described its Senedd group as a “staging post” in an effort to get Nigel Farage into Downing Street.

Mr Tice insisted Reform had not been distracted by a turbulent week which also saw Dan Thomas stand down as its Welsh leader following his arrest on suspicion of assault and engaging in controlling or coercive behaviour.

Police investigation

Mr Thomas, who was released on bail, says he has done nothing wrong. He has not been suspended by Reform and remains one of the party’s MSs while the police investigation continues.

Mr Tice said: “Life is work in progress. But the bottom line is that we’ve got a group of 33 elected representatives, and they’re the second largest party by a considerable margin, and we’re raising issues that are absolutely vital to the residents of Wales.

“Life moves at different paces, and you have sometimes good days, you have sometimes bad days.

“The reality is that very shortly, we’ll have a new leader. But our representatives are getting on with the job of representing their constituents and raising issues they want raised.”

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