SNP, Plaid & Yes Windaes

-- An extract from our special report into Reform in Wales -- In June I sat inside the Senedd canteen eating lunch. It has been really busy since the Senedd was expanded and at peak times seats can be in short supply. There was a seat free on my table and a Reform MS came up with his tray and asked: “Do you mind if I join you?” “Please do,” I said. He sat down and we ate our food in silence. After a minute he looked up at me, paused, and said: “You’re Will Hayward.” I replied: “I know.” He then looked panicked, like a man that just realised he had left his baby in a taxi. “I am not allowed to be here or talk to you,” he said. I said: “You are a grown man and an elected representative on £80,000 a year, you are allowed to talk to who you want.” He then said: “Err, I am sorry, I have to go.” He then stood up, glanced around guiltily and squeezed his way onto an overpacked table elsewhere. This might sound bizarre, but it is the perfect embodiment of the culture within the Reform group: Absolute paranoia of the media, opposition parties and perhaps most of all, each other. Reform MS Francesca O’Brien even raised the issue in the Senedd (presumably this was one of their 2,300 speeches) where she asked for journalists’ access to be restricted because someone was “chatty” to her in a toilet. But it isn’t just journalists that are off limits for conversation. As one MS told us: “Before the election we were told not to speak to the media at all. But it was also organisations. Anyone who upset HQ got onto the list. “This included Cavendish, Oxfam, Shelter Cymru, Nation Cymru, you, Books Trust, the Future Generations Commissioner and the Children’s Commissioner. “The reason for Shelter was because they were critical of Reform’s immigration and asylum policy, and HQ couldn’t handle the fact that they were being criticised. “It has also been made clear to us that speaking to journalists who are banned would be a very serious matter.” See pinned tweet for full story.

Reform UK have been the official opposition inside the Welsh Parliament for 6 months. In that time Reform Senedd Members have been absent from almost as many committee meetings as every other party combined. To mark six months since the Senedd election, my news letter carried out a deep-dive look inside the Reform UK group within the Welsh Parliament. We have spoken to Reform Senedd Members, staffers and seen inside WhatsApp groups. Full story in my pinned tweet.