The Reform UK leader maintains that Wales remains his party’s top priority
Nigel Farage has confirmed he won’t be standing at the Senedd election despite rumours that he would be standing as a candidate.
Rumours have been circulating for weeks in Cardiff Bay that the Reform leader could stand as a candidate at the Senedd election, so that he can take part in television debates. Though when ITV asked about his plans, Farage said to Sharp End, that he will not be doing that, as he believes it would be “cynical”.
Nigel Farage said: “I don’t intend to do that, that would be playing the game in the most cynical way and I’m not going to do it.”
Despite this, Nigel Farage made the claim that Wales is now the priority for Reform UK following the party’s recent success in local elections in England.
He also confirmed he will not be the leader in Wales but will kick off his party’s Senedd election campaign until a candidate has been chosen.
In an extended interview with ITV Cymru Wales’ Sharp End programme, the Reform leader said the goal is now to win the most seats in the 2026 Senedd election, taking place in May next year.
He also hinted at defections to his party from Senedd members, but wants to encourage new talent to come forward. “I think one or two people might be interested, we’ll see,” he said. Read the biggest stories in Wales first by signing up to our daily newsletter here
“To be honest with you, what I’m really interested in is finding talent that can come in from people who’ve probably never been in politics before but want to give. You have to have some experience in there, of course you do.
“But do you know what the problem is with politics in this country, right across the UK, it’s become a career. It has become something you aspire to at university and what I want to see are people coming in from different walks of life.”Andrew RT Davies previously ruled out defecting to Reform UK after stepping down as the leader of the Welsh Conservatives.But the South Wales Central MS has several shared beliefs that closely align with Reform UK policies, such as Brexit, 20mph and cutting ‘wasteful’ government spending.“I’ve always found him a very interesting politician”, Mr Farage said, “and if he wants to have a chat over a cup of tea, I’d be happy to do it.”
A bombshell Barn Cymru poll conducted by YouGov for ITV Cymru Wales and Cardiff University, revealed that Labour support in Wales slumped to its lowest since the start of devolution. It also showed a large increase in Plaid Cymru’s vote share, which climbed to 30%, while the support for Reform UK also continued to surge to 25%. You can read more about that here.Mr Farage said: “What you’ll find is a political class in Cardiff Bay pretty detached from the centre ground of public opinion and I honestly believe that one of the reasons you’ve seen Reform surge in the way that it has in Wales, in terms of membership, in terms of activists, in terms of polling numbers, is far from being the nasty party.
“We’re actually reflecting what a majority of decent people think.”Neither Plaid Cymru nor Reform are expected to win an outright majority so attention is turning to which parties would work together.Nigel Farage has not ruled out working with the Welsh Conservatives, despite speaking out about being let down by the party in a previous General Election.Refusing to confirm if he’d work with them or not, Mr Farage said: “The Conservatives might barely exist after next year’s election… They might not have more than three or four seats.”Watch the full interview with Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, on Sharp End, ITV Cymru Wales. It will also be available on ITVX and online here.
