We asked people in two communities in Wales why they voted Reform UK

Wales Online

15-06-2025

We asked people in two communities in Wales why they voted Reform UK
Lliedi resident Neil Thomas says he'll never vote Labour again
(Image: Copyright Unknown )
Neil Thomas from Llanelli voted Labour at the UK General Election in 2024. "Never again," he said.
He's one of the many converts to Reform UK who helped the party win a seat in Llanelli just over a fortnight ago and gain its first Carmarthenshire councillor.
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The 62-year-old had a few gripes to mention. He said he didn't expect to receive winter fuel allowance when he was eligible in a few years' time. Labour just this week did a u-turn on the payment, making millions more people on lower incomes eligible after previously restricting it to pensioners on certain benefits.
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He also felt aggrieved that he was turned down for a benefit he had been receiving called the personal independence payment following a medical assessment. Happily for him, he said his cousin appealed on his behalf and it was reinstated.
But it seems like it's Reform UK leader Nigel Farage that's made the difference for him.
"I voted Labour at the last general election and always voted Labour locally - never again," said Mr Thomas. "Next election I will be voting for Reform."
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He said he liked what he'd seen of Reform UK and Nigel Farage on television. "He's straight-talking. He speaks his mind," he said. "He would be a good Prime Minister. The one we've got now, we don't know what the hell he's doing."
Would the Reform UK leader and MP for Clacton have Wales' interests at heart, we asked? "We've got to wait and see," said Mr Thomas. For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation, sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here
Two years ago Reform was bumping along the bottom of the UK polls, trading blows with the Greens to be one of the least popular national political parties in the country.
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Labour was at its zenith, tracking in the mid 40 per cents with the Tories stumbling along in the mid-20s.
Then, towards the end of 2023, something changed. Reform began picking up support, soaring above the Greens and Lib Dems and slowly eating into the Tories' lack of popularity relative to Labour.
Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage, speaking in Port Talbot
(Image: WalesOnline/Rob Browne )
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There were no great gains for Reform at the 2024 General Election which was won decisively by Labour, with Mr Farage's party picking up five seats, but the party won sweeping gains at the local elections in England earlier this year, taking 677 of the 1,600 seats and is now leading in the polls, with Politico's most recent poll of polls putting Reform on 30%, Labour on 23% and the Conservatives on 17%
The Senedd elections take place on May 7, 2026, the next big electoral test for all political parties in Wales.
A poll in May this year suggested Labour could lose control of the Welsh Government and drop to third, with Plaid Cymru taking the most seats, followed by Reform in third.
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In the meantime, the only clue we get as to what might be happening on the ground in Wales is by-elections.
Just over a fortnight ago Reform UK's Michelle Beer won a vacant Lliedi seat by a stretch, defeating Welsh Labour in what has been solid Labour territory going by the 2022, 2017 and 2012 council elections. She is Reform UK's first Carmarthenshire councillor.
Michelle Beer (centre), who is Reform UK's first county councillor in Carmarthenshire
(Image: courtesy of Michelle Beer )
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At last summer's general election Labour incumbent Nia Griffith held onto the Llanelli seat with 31.3% of the vote but Reform UK's Gareth Beer - Michelle's husband - wasn't a million miles away in second place with a 27.6% share. Reform UK, it seems, aren't going anywhere.
When WalesOnline went to Lliedi to speak to voters, we caught up with Neil Thomas, mentioned earlier, and bellwether voter Stella Bartlett, who voted for Labour's Ms Griffith last July and for Reform UK's Mrs Beer on May 29.
A residential street in Lliedi
(Image: Copyright Unknown )
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Asked about the switch, she said: "It was because of what's happening with Labour - they say one thing and do another. It was the way they took off money for winter fuel, and now they're going to put it back, but not all of it.
"It's the cuts and putting National Insurance up for the workers which they shouldn't be doing. My granddaughter is a care worker and does a lot of overtime. When it comes to her pay, the tax is unbelievable."
The 76-year-old added: "I met the Reform candidate (Mrs Beer) when she came to my door, and she was lovely. I also just happen to like Nigel Farage and what he is for. He seems down to earth, no airs and graces, like a normal person."
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Stella Bartlett with her rescue dog Buck
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Last autumn Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced a rise in the level of National Insurance contributions paid by employers rather than employees to help plug what Labour claimed was a £22 billion black hole left by the previous Conservative Government. It came into effect in April this year, as did inflation-busting increases in the national living wage and minimum wage.
However, more people are slipping into the income tax bracket because of a freeze on the amount you can earn - known as the personal allowance - before the 20% basic rate applies.
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All political decisions are trade-offs and the winter fuel hokey cokey seems to have left its mark on some voters.
Craig Morgan, of Llanelli, voted for Reform UK last July after previously voting Conservative. He said he didn't feel the two traditionally strongest parties were "doing anything good" for people.
"They're trying to do up Llanelli but it's taking years," said the 43-year-old. "I felt like a change was needed." He said people needed better access to housing.
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Mr Morgan added: "Nigel Farage is a character. He says things how they are, but thank God he's not like Donald Trump, yet."
Craig Morgan
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Asked if he'd had any reservations about voting for Reform UK, he didn't say no but added that he didn't want to get into a discussion about immigration. Would he vote for Reform UK at next year's Senedd elections? "I will see at the time," he said.
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Richard Thomas, 73, is a Reform UK convert and said levels of legal and illegal immigration concerned him. However he said he didn't blame people for coming to the UK to seek work in the health and care sectors.
"If we didn't have them our hospitals would be knackered," he said. "There are also a lot of them at my mother's care home - they're better than our own people."
Many years ago Mr Thomas, of Pontyates, a few miles north-west of Llanelli, worked at the nearby Cynheidre colliery.
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He liked what he heard from the Reform UK leader when he visited Port Talbot on June 9, such as bringing blast furnaces back to the steelworks and allowing coal to be mined to power them.
"He spoke well at Port Talbot," said Mr Thomas, who previously tended to vote for Plaid Cymru. "What's wrong with burning coal? It's the best heat we ever had in our house."
Was he worried that Reform UK might over-promise and, if it were to hold sway in the Senedd or House of Commons one day, under-deliver? "It depends on how much money there is in the kitty then," he replied.
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But Lliedi is not the only community in Wales to turn to Nigel Farage's party.
The drive through the village of Cefn Cribwr down to Kenfig Hill and Pyle is a roughly two mile stretch of road that shows Wales at its finest on a clear day.
The View From Cefn Cribwr
(Image: Copyright Unknown )
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With scenic views of Bridgend county borough to the south, and a snap-shot of the coast to the west, with Port Talbot steelworks framed between rows of houses in the distance, it is one that almost seems to encapsulate this part of the world at a glance.
However, while these views have become a soothing and consistent sight to many in the Bridgend communities over the years, in recent months the political outlook for the area has become slightly less clear.
This was evident at a council by-election held in May, 2025, which saw a seat in the ward of Pyle, Kenfig Hill and Cefn Cribwr won by the authority's first Reform UK councillor, Owain Clatworthy.
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Successful Refoirm UK Candidate Owain Clatworthy celebrates his win in Pyle with supporters after beating Labour into second place.
(Image: Copyright Unknown )
He took his seat after edging out the second placed Labour candidate Gary Chappell by only 30 votes, to join two sitting Labour members for the area- current deputy leader, Cllr Jane Gebbie, and Mayor for Bridgend, Cllr Huw David.
It came just weeks before the leader of Reform UK, Nigel Farage, visited the nearby town of Port Talbot to kick-start the party's Senedd election campaign, claiming they expected to not only win seats, but to also win enough to govern Wales.
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Speaking to locals in the ward of Pyle, Kenfig Hill and Cefn Cribwr, known historically as a Labour area, some feel a sense of anxiety over potential changes to the political status-quo, though for others they feel this small part of Bridgend has sent out a big message in the build up to 2026.
Pyle Road in Bridgend
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Nigel Harris lives in the village of Kenfig Hill and said that when it came to politics, many people were frustrated with what they considered to be a lack of action in the area, with more needing to be done to help its communities.
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He said: "The problem with a lot of politicians is that they promise you everything, then when it actually comes down to it they don't do anything at all.
"You only have to look outside at the grass in Kenfig Hill. It hasn't been cut for ages and it's coming to the point where its up to your knees in some places.
"The roads are really bad with pot holes, there's a general lack of public toilets, and a lot of people are starting to get annoyed because, despite giving more, we seem to be going backwards.
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"The local high streets are dying in front of us, and everything you hear is just negative, so it doesn't surprise me to hear that people are looking for something different."
Brian Smith said he felt that the latest by-election had also reflected frustrations with national problems, such as the cost-of-living crisis and the closure of the blast furnaces at the nearby Port Talbot steelworks site.
He said: "People want change and I think there's going to be a big shock with how the votes go next year at the Senedd, with some moving away from the more traditional Labour or Conservative votes that we've seen in the past.
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"Of course, some of that will be because of local matters, but wider issues like the winter fuel allowance and the closure of the blast furnaces in Port Talbot will also play a big part in places like this.
"The steelworks is a big one for me, as it always employed a lot of people in and around this area and they all saw the decision to save the Scunthorpe site while letting this one go."
One resident who did not wish to be named said other national issues like securing the future of the NHS and tackling illegal immigration were also factors that would influence voters, stating: "Somebody's got to stop all these boats coming in. The National Health Service is on its knees at the moment and something has got to be done."
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For Ahmed Tezgel however, he felt that politicians across all parties needed to do more to engage with residents and live up to promises, adding: "I don't mind any party just as long as they are going to help the community."
Speaking after his shock election win in May, 2025, which made him only the second Reform Councillor in Wales at the time, Cllr Owain Clatworthy, 20, said: "I'm incredibly humbled and it's a true honour to have been elected.
"I ran a campaign based on people because many are fed up of being ignored and want to see change. The work begins now to build a better future for everyone in the ward and I will stand up for the community and put people first."
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His work begins in that ward in one part of Wales, but the work of Reform and other parties is already well underway to convince people in wards and constituencies across the country to vote for them at the Senedd election next year.
The future of Wales is at stake.