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Opinion

Does Wales really want Wales to be run by Nigel Farage from England?

01 Feb 2025 7 minute read
Reform UK Leader Nigel Farage arriving for Friday’s BBC Question Time Leaders’ Special at the Midlands Arts Centre in Birmingham. Photo Peter Byrne/PA Wire

Martin Shipton

Imagine, for a moment, a Welsh Government run remotely from England by Nigel Farage.

Not that long ago such a suggestion would have been seen as a wet dream of the unelectable far right – a social media fantasy embraced by the cerebrally challenged who have no real idea how politics works.

But a series of recent polls show Reform UK vying with Labour and Plaid Cymru for top spot in terms of vote share at next year’s Senedd election, with the Conservatives not far behind.

Translating such a level of support into seats will be far easier under the new Closed List PR electoral system than under First Past The Post or the hybrid system we’ve used since the National Assembly was established in 1999. Yet we’ve also seen Britain-wide polls putting Reform in the lead for a Westminster election.

And then the other day we learnt that Farage has decreed that, if it’s in a position to form a government, Reform should only go into a coalition with the Conservatives if they – the Tories – accept a subordinate role as the junior partner.

Tipping point

Have we reached a tipping point where fantasy politics has tipped over into reality? There’s certainly a case to be made for such a view.

It’s therefore time to treat the threat posed by Reform seriously – something which Welsh Labour hasn’t been prepared to do. So far, their disdainful dismissal of Reform has been based on the fact that they have no leader in Wales and that they are essentially an English nationalist party of no relevance to Wales.

Yet the fact is that a significant part of the electorate doesn’t seem to think that matters. For them, Nigel Farage is an affable pied piper who, like trusting children, they are happy to follow.

The task of the other parties in the period between now and the Senedd election in May 2026 is to point out not simply the absurdity of having someone from outside Wales becoming the de facto head of the Welsh Government, but the reality of what a Trump-allied administration with Farage playing the political equivalent of a shadow director might have in store for us.

Constitutional significance

The constitutional significance of what we may be facing does, nevertheless, have to be addressed.

Regardless of the fact that many of Reform’s supporters don’t care, the issue of outside control of our devolved government has been a big issue since before what is now the Senedd was set up.

To a large extent, the contest between Alun Michael and Rhodri Morgan to see who would lead Welsh Labour in the first Assembly election was about whether Tony Blair should have the right to impose his placeman on Wales.

Michael did his best to fend off the accusation that he was a puppet, but most party members voted for Morgan. Yet Michael got the job because the voting system used enabled an undemocratic stitch-up. Labour was punished in the ensuing Assembly election, failing to win the overall majority it hoped for, and setting up a situation that led to Michael being ousted in less than a year.

It was a good example of how an attempt to thwart the people’s will – or at least the will of party members – eventually backfired.

However, throughout the subsequent post-devolution period, and right up to the present, there have been tensions between the UK Government and the Welsh Government which have often touched on where power lies, or should lie.

While such tension has been more overt when there has been a Tory government at Westminster, it’s always existed to one degree or another behind the scenes.

Never before, however, have we been in a situation where a politician from outside Wales has been at front and centre of their party’s campaign at a devolved election.

Reform has said it is not electing a Welsh leader in advance of next year’s Senedd election, and it’s beyond doubt that pictures of Farage will appear on the party’s leaflets and, if news outlets agree, that he will represent it in interviews and debates.

Remotely

If Reform wins, we should be in no doubt that Farage will seek to run the Welsh Government remotely from London and Clacton, his faded seaside resort constituency in Essex.

All the Reform MSs will be without experience of government – even Mark Reckless, the former Tory, UKIP, Brexit Party and Abolish the Welsh Assembly politician who fancies standing for Reform in Caerphilly – and while Farage has no such experience either, he will see running Wales as a rehearsal for running the UK after the general election in 2029, which he is convinced Reform can win.

It’s difficult to imagine a more humiliating scenario for Welsh democracy than providing an egotistical foreigner with a pilot project for power elsewhere.

We’d be into uncharted territory, of course, and the mechanics of how Farage would wield such power are unknown. But the likelihood is that he’d be calling the shots when the issue is big enough for him to take an interest in. And we can be sure that if a Reform MS dared to disagree with a Farage edict, they’d quickly be told that their presence in the Senedd was entirely attributable to riding on his coattails.

It’s equally important to consider the likely nature of Farage’s interventions. Inevitably they will stem from his world view, which is that of a right wing conservative who believes in deregulation, privatisation and – in common with his mentor Donald Trump – the dismantling of “Big Government”.

Paradoxically, as we have seen in the United States since Trump re-took power, weakening regulatory standards necessitates strong action from the executive.

Public services

Most Reform supporters in Wales complain about public services in Wales – something that requires extra funding, not less, as Farage’s world view would demand.

There’s another paradox in the rise in support for Reform on the strength of Farage’s supposed charisma. It coincides with the increasing realisation by the Welsh and British electorates that Brexit has brought no benefits and has been economically damaging. Recently a mega-poll showed that every constituency in Wales, and indeed in Britain, has greater support for prioritising better trading links with the EU than with the US.

No wonder Farage doesn’t want to discuss Brexit any more. His standard response when asked about its failure to deliver the benefits that were promised is to berate the questioner, saying that Brexit is “ancient history” and ignore the negative consequences for businesses and individuals.

Labour has got itself into a mess with its ridiculous refusal to contemplate rejoining the European single market and customs union, making it difficult for it to attack Farage and Reform over the Brexit disaster.

In the run-up to next year’s Senedd election it will therefore be for other parties, most notably Plaid Cymru, to expose Farage as one of the foremost architects of a policy that has failed Wales so badly.

Why would anyone in their right mind vote to put such a charlatan in power in Wales?


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Karl
Karl
16 days ago

My worst nightmare, he is disgusting, immoral and evil. I don’t want him breathing if honest. He has no values i was brought up on. No basic human decency and he hates our Tredegar inspired NHS. My kids deserve better than fools who trash their language and heritage

Richard Carpenter
Richard Carpenter
14 days ago
Reply to  Karl

I fine the most disgusting people to be those that can’t string a reasoned argument to put forward and who just resort to insults with not a shred of evidence to back any of them.

Freya Nolton
Freya Nolton
12 days ago

Spot on..👍

Alun John
Alun John
16 days ago

“We should be in no doubt that Farage will seek to run the Welsh Government remotely from London and Clacton, his faded seaside resort constituency in Essex.”
Well I’m sure he’d try to run things from somewhere in England but it won’t be from Clacton – he’s hardly ever there. He’s got no respect for anyone he’s supposed to represent.

Arthur
Arthur
16 days ago

This has been coming since 2016 when more people in wales voted for brexit than voted remain. (200,000 in wales voted reform in last uk elections) Labour have done absolutely nothing to counter this, in the belief that they can impose their will on the people, through a one party dictatorship.
27 years of mismanagement and dodgy dealings with private companies
that do not benefit the people of Wales, but benefit the party merry go round, just look at health minister to F.M over last six years, and still health sector in a mess.

Jeff
Jeff
16 days ago
Reply to  Arthur

Add on people that didn’t vote in brexit and your ice is exceedingly thin. Would love a re run. Farage wont like a re run, he knows rejoin could well win. farage is a wrecker. We have his history, see brexit he runs away from. A fantasist, a grifter, for sale to the highest bidder it would seem if he takes musks loot and he is in awe of a multiple felon and abuser and uses people like tate as a source of info. vote him in, that is what we get. But like germany in 1936, perhaps that is… Read more »

Ash
Ash
16 days ago
Reply to  Jeff

And if remain wins that one do we get another re-run then? I still don’t understand people’s stance on this. A once in generation vote with the largest turn out ever for a vote, and you want a re-run? Come back in a generation and we can talk about it.

Farage is horrid, but a Welsh Labour that has been an abject failure, and a Tory party that nobody in Wales will vote for was always going to give rise to an opportunity such as this. I blame Labour, they’ve taken the Welsh vote for granted and let this in.

Jeff
Jeff
16 days ago
Reply to  Ash

Vote was done . We left eu. Now we vote to rejoin. Nothing to do with brexit.

Funny the trope is “everyone has taken us for granted”. Whilst not great, it is not what farage wants you to think.

Rob
Rob
15 days ago
Reply to  Ash

I’m not saying we should re-join the EU (even if we could I’m not sure they would let us back in), but in the run up to the referendum leave campaigners including Nigel Farage and Daniel Hannan were telling us that we could be like Norway with access to the single market and customs union. As soon as the referendum went their way they changed their tune. ‘Support a hard Brexit or your a remoaner.’ Would Port Talbot have voted leave if they knew they were going to lose their steelworks? Therefore any attempt to rejoin the customs union and… Read more »

Johnny Gamble
Johnny Gamble
16 days ago
Reply to  Jeff

We have already had a re run.The first EU referendum was in 1975 when people voted to remain in what was known then as the Common Market.
Since then after a couple of name changes it changed from EEC to EU.
People had their re run in 2016.

Jeff
Jeff
15 days ago
Reply to  Johnny Gamble

Who said we get only one.

Rob
Rob
16 days ago
Reply to  Arthur

Arthur, Wales, has been run from London, by remote control, for centuries. Labour and Unionist Party, HQ, South Bank, London, Conservative and Unionist Party, HQ, South Bank London, etc. Reform Ltd, will of course follow the same pattern. But this time don’t have a plan, to take what they can get from us. That’s not supporting them. They don’t have a plan. Under a previous flag, UKIP, the Assembly, had a UKIP leader, every few months. All of them resinigning, usually because they didn’t know what was happening. Wales, finds itself in a bible position and people are shouting for… Read more »

S Duggan
S Duggan
16 days ago

The challenge now is for Plaid to build on it’s strong showing in the polls and truly make itself known, not only as the party for everyone in Cymru, but the real alternative to Labour. Especially in the highly populated valleys and north Wales coast. It can, and more importantly must, be done. Reform would be a disaster for our country with the charlatan Farage in charge.

John Ellis
John Ellis
16 days ago

‘And then the other day we learnt that Farage has decreed that, if it’s in a position to form a government, Reform should only go into a coalition with the Conservatives if they – the Tories – accept a subordinate role as the junior partner.’ That, at least, offers some hope because if Reform does well at the next Senedd election – and I think that they well might because they’ve demonstrated an ability to garner support from voters in more disadvantaged ‘post-industrial’ areas, of which there are quite a few in Wales – I can’t even so see them… Read more »

Last edited 16 days ago by John Ellis
Nobby Tart
Nobby Tart
16 days ago

I fully expect RT to become the Reform ‘leader’ in Wales.

Paul
Paul
16 days ago

The people that I have met who have said that they would vote reform are not interested in Wales being devolved and so couldn’t care less where the leader lives. They are more interested in what they think will benefit them. They are not interested in national identity and they believe that ‘money talks’ and that is the only language they’re interested in.

Felicity
Felicity
16 days ago

Both Welsh Labour and Plaid need to collaborate on introducing automatic voter registration and engage with social media to reach the electorate. Bored and/or angry potential voters will otherwise just vote for a ‘change’, or not bother. The indigenous parties need to start campaigning now and at speed. Whoever wins the communication battle will win the Senedd.

Charles Coombes
Charles Coombes
16 days ago

Independence? Needs to be considered as does rejoining the EU!
Plaid should set out their stall.

Fi yn unig
Fi yn unig
16 days ago

Exactly. What do Plaid have to lose by going full on with Independence now and using that line as the only way to head off the terminator who, we are told, is coming for sure?

J Jones
J Jones
16 days ago

Stephen Fry is from the left but honest in stating that the rise of the right is the fault of the left, and when the left we have is extreme, the extreme right is invited in. The delusional politics has has messed up our nation, to an extent that it has even affected our national rugby team. Meanwhile, our small yet prospering Celtic neighbours to the West have coincidentally just defeated out large imperialist neighbours to the East yet again, something that is happening on and off the field. So there is a solution of moderation, but unfortunately our public… Read more »

Cyrano Jones
Cyrano Jones
16 days ago
Reply to  J Jones

The extreme left in Britain is small and powerless – and except for a few brief moments, it always has been. Even the mainstream left of the Labour party has now been neutered under Starmer. The rise of the far right is happening because of the abject failures of the centre.

J Jones
J Jones
15 days ago
Reply to  Cyrano Jones

Yes the extreme left has not won a UK election for over 50 years, but this is nation.cymru and the extreme left Drakeford has recently completed six years of lunacy with the usual consequences.

Both extremes have a bizarre hatred of the centre, despite it only holding power in the UK for less than a decade either side of the millennium. Maybe they don’t want us to compare those days compared to the mess that the extremes have now left Cymru and the UK.

Ceri
Ceri
14 days ago
Reply to  J Jones

Sorry, this is nonsense. I suspect Drakeford would say he is a socialist (not extreme left); in policy terms he has been a social democrat (extremely not extreme left). I admire your confidence in expressing opinions on issues you clearly know nothing about, but strongly recommend you read a little about this stuff.

Llyn
Llyn
16 days ago

Part of the issue is that the media in Wales, in particular BBC Wales and ITV Wales (though not Nation Cymru) never question Reform UK policies and politicians. They simply run regular excited articles about what a threat Nigel Farage’s Reform UK is to the other parties.

Another help for Reform UK in Wales will be all those intending to vote Liberal or Green in 2026. The polls show that with the exception of a very small number of constituencies, these will be wasted votes and hand more seats to the far-English nationalists.

Frank
Frank
16 days ago

Nooooooooooo!!

Jonathan Thomas
Jonathan Thomas
16 days ago

What’s the difference , we’re already being run by Westminster and have been for the 25 years we’ve had a supposed Welsh government

Llyn
Llyn
15 days ago

The difference would be a Reform UK government’s policies on the Welsh language and education, devolution, culture, the environment, second homes, etc.

Drew Anderson
Drew Anderson
15 days ago
Reply to  Llyn

Elect a Plaid, or Plaid and Green coalition, and you’ll see Labour and the Tories do exactly what you suggest Reform might do.

The Senedd gets a relatively easy ride from Westminster and the mainstream media, because it has never been out of Unionist control. See the treatment the Scottish Parliament gets for comparison, because the electorate had the temerity, in 2007 and since, to have the SNP as the leading party.

Rob
Rob
15 days ago

Quote: “Does Wales really want Wales to be run by Nigel Farage from England?” The problem is you can make the same argument regarding Labour’s Eluned Morgan, or the Conservative’s Darren Miller. Does Wales really want to be run from Keir Starmer or Kemi Badenoch? Populists like Farage, Trump, Boris Johnson etc and their supporters are notorious for resorting to whataboutisms to justify their behaviour, and thats exactly what Reform will use when faced with such accusation. Fortunately Plaid Cymru will not have this problem. This is a golden opportunity for them to capture dissatisfied voters on both sides of… Read more »

Last edited 15 days ago by Rob
Huw Scourfield
Huw Scourfield
9 days ago
Reply to  Rob

Well you say Reform are awful, but have no proof or evidence of this. but, we all know how useless and awful Plaid are because we’ve seen them support the useless and awful Labour in the Senedd. Reform have 2 years to grasp the Welsh issues, which Labour always say are their “priority and working hard to fix”. How many priorities can one have?
2 years to get the right people in place to sort Welsh issues out – get on with it Farage..

Adrian
Adrian
14 days ago

Reform is making huge strides in Wales firstly in local elections, then the Senedd elections, they’re going to decimate the appalling Labour party, and I for one cannot wait to see the back of the champagne socialist fools.

FrankC
FrankC
14 days ago
Reply to  Adrian

I’m betting you’re not Welsh and you don’t live in Wales. You’re just a sad incel worm. Get lost loser.

Undecided
Undecided
13 days ago
Reply to  FrankC

Your insults to Adrian get us nowhere. There are thousands in Wales who feel the same way. The job is to articulate arguments against Reform. Not invite circa 25 per cent of voters to get lost.

Fanny Hill
Fanny Hill
12 days ago
Reply to  Undecided

To be fair, Adrian rises to the bait regularly, like a trout to the fly. He just can’t help himself.
Now he’s back again after a lie down in a dark room. Enjoy the moment.

John Ellis
John Ellis
14 days ago

‘Reform overtook the Conservatives in every major poll last week for the first time, with Techne’s weekly tracker for The Independent putting the party one point ahead of the Tories on 24 per cent.’

From the ‘Independent’s website today, 3rd February. No suggestion that these polling results are Wales-specific – I’m sure they’re not – but nevertheless this is an apparent trend that surely needs to be taken seriously.

Jeff
Jeff
14 days ago

If (when?) musk buys farage, will his price be the same as he is doing on the US now? Whatever loot musks tempts farage with will be sofa change for musk. Musk is at the moment gutting the systems in place in the US governmant data systems and harvesting peoples data, private data, age, medcial, sex, colour….. He is in systems he does not have security clearance for and anyone who stands up to him trump fires. He wont be chucking farage any loot as an altruistic aim. What systems do we have in place to prevent that massive overstepping… Read more »

Richard Carpenter
Richard Carpenter
14 days ago

The comments are a better read than the article, headless chickens comes to mind.

Y Cymro
Y Cymro
13 days ago

It’s ridiculous scenario. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage proxy controlling Wales from England. This very same hypocrite who argued the EU was full of faceless bureaucrats who stole our power & sovereignty. Nigel Farage has spent more time in Florida than he has his constituency of Clacton. Reform has no Wales policies. None. It’s copy & paste a manifesto made in England, for England, applied to Wales. Has Brexit been a success. And do the Welsh electorate think former Ukip/Brexit Party AMs Neil Hamilton or Nathan Gill did a good job as Senedd members? They were appalling. What makes the… Read more »

Huw Scourfield
Huw Scourfield
9 days ago
Reply to  Y Cymro

Do Welsh Labour have policies??

Freya Nolton
Freya Nolton
12 days ago

He can’t be any worse than the offerings we’ve had so far.

Jeff
Jeff
12 days ago
Reply to  Freya Nolton

You know about brexit right?

Kenneth Ferguson
Kenneth Ferguson
7 days ago

Oh dear. Read the tea leaves.

Reform will be the largest party after the next Senedd elections no matter how much you squeal, squeal, squeal.

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