First Reform councillor says no Labour seat safe
Wales' first elected Reform UK councillor has claimed his by-election victory means no Labour seat in the country is safe.
Stuart Keyte won the Trevethin and Penygarn seat on Labour-dominated Torfaen council.
The by-election was called following the resignation of a councillor from the ruling group, which retains a majority of 17.
"I would imagine there isn't a Labour councillor, assembly member or MP who thinks their seat is safe if Trevethin and Penygarn is no longer a safe seat," said the former army major, who won by nearly 200 votes.
"Perhaps then we can have a realisation that councillors, AMs and MPs are supposed to be servants not the bosses, they are not the masters supposed to impose an ideology."
The election, held on Thursday, was the first time Reform - rebranded from leader Nigel Farage's Brexit Party - had won a seat at an election in Wales.
But the new councillor will join an established group at the Civic Centre in Pontypool, as three previously independent councillors joined Reform in August last year.
And the victory is in step with a trend towards success for the party in Wales, after it came second in 13 of the 32 Welsh constituencies at last summer's UK general election, securing 16.9% of the vote across Wales, compared to 5.4% in 2019 when it stood as the Brexit Party.
Its council group leader David Thomas hit the headlines on the eve of the by-election when Reform denied he had composed crude songs, posted online more than a decade ago, credited to him and others, and linked to a record label he ran.
Reform could win next Senedd election, party says
Reform to challenge Labour at Senedd poll - Farage
Reform could win lots of Senedd seats, says Farage
Anthony Hunt, Labour leader of Torfaen council, said Mr Thomas should apologise and Labour MP for neighbouring Monmouthshire, Catherine Fookes, called for him to resign.
On the day of the election, Mr Thomas and his two fellow Reform councillors were embroiled in a row over the opening of a Lidl supermarket in their Llantarnam ward in Cwmbran earlier in the week.
The supermarket said there had not been an official opening.
Mr Keyte said he had no concerns about the row over the "happy hardcore" dance tracks credited to his council group leader.
He said: "It's not my type of music, I'm more of a classical music type. It's not something that concerns me.
"I take it for what it is, I believe it's a smear campaign."
The new councillor added he had been "too focused" on his campaign to raise it with Mr Thomas, who was a prominent supporter in the by-election.
He added: "It didn't seem to be an issue when Mr Thomas was a Labour councillor."
He also said it was "farcical" to suggest his colleagues would have attended a supermarket opening with their own scissors and ribbon and for staff to have posed for photographs with them.
The semi-retired 64-year-old, who has been a volunteer with the Citizens Advice Service in Cwmbran and in Pretoria in South Africa, said he had "no doubt" his victory was a sign of potential further success in Wales, with the party targeting elections to the expanded Senedd next year.
He said people were "looking for a change in support from somebody other than Labour or any other established parties for that matter".
Mr Keyte, who lives in Wainfelin, Pontypool said as a councillor he wants to "get back to basics and see the place cleaned up, fences put back up and get a police presence".
Labour won both Trevethin and Penygarn seats at the 2022 local government elections, with the Conservatives the only other party standing.
Turnout in 2022 was 23%, which is slightly below the 24.7% of the electorate who voted in the by-election.
Meanwhile, the Welsh Conservatives won a by-election, also held on 13 February, to fill the New Inn Upper vacancy on Pontypool Community Council, called due to the resignation of former Labour councillor Sue Malsom.
Lidl denies Reform councillor officially opened shop
Councillor not behind 'offensive' songs, Reform says
Tories suffer first Welsh wipeout since 2001
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Spending Review criticised by Tory police leaders
Three Conservative Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) in the south of England have criticised the chancellor's long-term spending plans. Rachel Reeves announced on Wednesday that police funding would rise by 2.3% a year to fund 13,000 more neighbourhood officers. But Thames Valley PCC Matthew Barber and Hampshire and Isle of Wight PCC Donna Jones said the increase was funded by an assumed increase in council tax, while Dorset PCC David Sidwick said policing was at risk without "significant investment". Reeves told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme she did not "accept" the need for cuts to police jobs. Reeves' comments were in response to Labour's London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan saying the Spending Review would lead to cuts to frontline policing. Police budgets are made up of funding from both central government and a portion of council tax called the police precept. PCCs can raise this precept by £14 a year for a Band D council tax bill without having to have a referendum. This is in addition to a 5% general rise. "When they talk about spending power, that's predicated on me increasing council tax by £14 every year for the next three years on local taxpayers," said Barber. "The chancellor says no tax rise is needed to fund her spending plans [but] she's simply passing the buck from one place to another, and taxpayers end up picking up the bill." Jones said the plan to increase neighbourhood policing by 13,000 officers was "now merely a pipe dream". "What it is going to mean is that smaller police forces across the country will probably be forced to reduce their head count for police officers, and probably entirely get rid of police community support officers," she said. Sidwick said Dorset residents "already pay over and above what other areas do for their police force" because rurality and seasonality were not considered in the funding formula. "That is not right," he said. "I understand there are tough decisions the government must make - we've had to make many in Dorset due to years of underfunding - but it is clear that serious and very real concerns from all corners of policing have once again not been heeded by those in power." A Home Office spokesperson said: "We are committed to ensuring that police forces have the resources they need to keep our streets safe. "Council tax levels are a local decision, and elected police and crime commissioners will consider the appropriate level for their local priorities. "Further details for next year will be set out in the autumn as part of the annual police funding settlement." You can follow BBC Berkshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram. Winners and losers: Who got what in the spending review? Justice system starved of money, police leaders say Hampshire PCC Thames Valley PCC Dorset PCC
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
BBC Question Time Audience Member Brands Reform 'The Comedy Club' As Zia Yusuf Awkwardly Looks On
Former Reform UK chairman Zia Yusuf was left squirming after an audience member on Question Time branded his party 'the comedy club'. The man's remark was greeted with applause on the BBC1 programme on Thursday night. Yusuf, who is now in charge of Reform's so-called 'DOGE unit' aimed at cutting out public sector waste, was left looking on awkwardly as the man made his remarks. 'It's not whether Reform will end up in the comedy club – they are the comedy club,' the man said. Addressing Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the Treasury, he went on: 'You said that Labour got in because people wanted change. They didn't. Labour got in because they wanted Labour in charge. 'And why did they want Labour in charge? Because of what you stand for. I think you need to change the narrative. You took over from the Tories, who destroyed this country in 14 years, and you've given [Reform UK] a window to spout the stuff they do. ″[Yusuf] is now the DOGE lead, like Elon Musk and Trump. It's a matter of time before him and Nigel Farage are going to fall out. What you need to do is change the narrative.' Man in blue calls out ReformThen tells Labour to do better# — Farrukh (@implausibleblog) June 12, 2025 Zia Yusuf Says Reform Would Deport All Illegal Immigrants – But Nigel Farage Has Said That's 'Impossible' 'You've Been Muscled Out': Nick Robinson Goads Zia Yusuf For Quitting As Reform Chairman Reform UK Mocked After Zia Yusuf Returns Just 48 Hours After Quitting
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Rachel Reeves has lost control
On Tuesday, Sir Keir Starmer told the nation that the Government's U-turn on cuts to winter fuel payments was the result of 'better growth'. On Wednesday, Rachel Reeves felt able to announce billions of pounds of new spending on public services and infrastructure. And on Thursday, April's GDP figures showed the biggest monthly drop since 2023 as Labour's tax hikes came home to roost. It is hard to think of a better summary of the mess this Government has made of its messaging and this nation. After less than a year in office, Rachel Reeves and Sir Keir Starmer appear to have run out of ideas entirely. As Paul Johnson of the Institute for Fiscal Studies has pointed out, the notion that this was a careful exercise in cutting the waste in state spending is without merit. There is no 'particular area of spending' where the Government has decided to 'withdraw', with virtually every department facing 'exactly the same cut in its administration budgets'. Moreover, the plan for dealing with the NHS – an organisation that has translated massive rises in the number of hospital doctors and nursing staff employed into an 8 per cent fall in productivity since 2019 – is to simply throw more money onto the furnace. Yet while Sir Keir and Ms Reeves feel ready to start splashing the cash on the Government's favoured causes, the underlying state of Britain's finances remains parlous, with any knock to growth likely to trigger further tax rises. The blunt truth of the matter is that this country is on an unsustainable fiscal course, and that tough decisions will need to be faced if we are to rectify this. The evidence to date is that this Labour Government is unwilling and unable to take them. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
