Watch: Reform Wales leader finds himself starring in tongue-in-cheek Welsh fashion ad

Emily Price 

Reform’s leader in Wales has inadvertently become the face of a Welsh clothing brand after the company used footage from his first day in the Senedd in a tongue-in-cheek video ad.

Gwalia Dillad Clothing posted the clip to its social media channels this week following Dan Thomas’ first Plenary session in the Senedd.

The company prides itself on being a sustainable Welsh fashion brand dedicated to celebrating Wales’ history, identity, folklore, and the Welsh language.

Gwalia owner Cai Rhys used footage from the Senedd’s live video feed on Tuesday (May 12) showing Thomas listening to a Welsh-language translation of proceedings shortly after the election of new Llywydd Huw Irranca-Davies.

In the creative video posted to TikTok, Gwalia claimed it has obtained “leaked” audio from Thomas’ headset.

However, owner Cai had dubbed over the Welsh language translation to make it appear as though Thomas was being consoled over Reform’s second-place finish in the Senedd election and steered towards a spot of retail therapy at Gwalia Clothing.

The audio says: “Dan, Danny, Daniel. Listen, don’t make a scene.

“Sorry about the loss mate – rough one. But if you need some retail therapy go to Gwalia Clothing.

“We’ve got all sorts of clothes like sweatshirts and beanies, hoodies! And we can also post it to Bath. Mental innit!

“Anyway safe journey back home on the M4.”

The clip ends with Thomas removing the headphones and leaning back in his chair, appearing deep in thought.

@gwaliaclothing Sori Dan am herwgipio dy glustffonau Senedd 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿😂 Sorry Dan, we hijacked your Senedd headset 😬 #Senedd #Wales #cymru #WelshPolitics #welshtiktok ♬ original sound – GWALIA

The light-hearted jab played on speculation that the former Conservative London council leader was living in Bath when he was appointed Nigel Farage’s man in Wales in February.

Reform UK maintains that Thomas has permanently relocated back to the South Wales Valleys after spending 20 years in London.

After hoping to win the most seats at the Welsh election on May 7, Reform finished as the second-largest party, securing 34 seats.

Cai says he decided to use footage from Thomas’ first day in the Senedd for a video advert after noticing an uptick in engagement on his company’s social media posts during the run-up to the Welsh election.

Speaking to Nation.Cymru, Cai said: “I noticed over the past few days that our Welsh political posts were getting great engagement and brand awareness, and whilst we try not to get too involved in politics – our goal as a brand is to promote the history and heritage of Wales – recent historical events made our brand vision very clear.

“In regards to the video, the idea was pretty simple really. With the growth we’d gained from our political posts, I felt like I had to bring people back to the purpose of the brand, which was educating people about Wales through clothing.

“So I thought the best way to do it in the least ad/salesy way was to play a bit of a joke.

“I saw Dan Thomas was in the Senedd wearing his translation headphones and thought, what better way to reach a Welsh politician than through his own headset?

“Retail therapy heals all wounds, even political ones!

“Dan is more than welcome to learn the language to avoid these sort of jokes happening again.”

Cai went viral online last year after he responded creatively to a controversial claim on a popular podcast including influencer Tennessee Thresher suggesting that “Wales shouldn’t be its own country.”

Within 48 hours, Cai’s video which mixes humour, patriotism, and a message of cultural pride hit over 600,000 views, sparked thousands of comments, and ignited a wave of Welsh TikTok users defending and celebrating Wales.