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Nigel Farage says Wales is now Reform UK's 'priority' ahead of Senedd election next year

Nigel Farage says Wales is now Reform UK's 'priority' ahead of Senedd election next year

ITV News13-05-2025
Nigel Farage has said Wales is now the priority for Reform 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.
It follows last week's Barn Cymru poll by ITV Cymru Wales and Cardiff University which predicted Reform would come second if an election were held today, behind Plaid Cymru and ahead of Labour.
Reform turned their rising appeal into tangible results earlier this month when they took control of 10 English councils, as well as winning a by-election and installing two mayors.
Polling suggests Reform's success was largely from Conservative supporters shifting their vote, but Mr Farage said they are hoping to bring across Labour voters too.
"I've got evidence from strong Labour areas in England that on May 1, what happened was people were motivated to go out and vote Reform, turnouts were higher than people thought they were going to be," he said.
"What we have do in Wales is to say to people, if you really, really want change, you've got to vote for that change, and it's up to us to articulate clearly what that vision is."
In the lengthy interview, Mr Farage discussed how Reform would scrap key Welsh Government policies if they formed the next government such as the 'Nation of Sanctuary' plan, default 20mph speed limits, and a target for one million Welsh speakers by 2050.
Watch the full interview on tonight's episode of Sharp End on ITV1 at 10.45pm.
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