Reform says Welsh party leader ‘not important’ for 2025 election

A senior member of Reform UK has said having a party leader in Wales is not important for the Senedd election in May.

Llŷr Powell, the party’s former head of communications in Wales, said the focus was on electing a parliament, and that a leader would be chosen during the campaign.

He also would not rule out using the private sector to cut NHS waiting lists, and said protecting Welsh culture in language strongholds was not a priority.

Questions remain over who will lead Reform UK in Wales, but Powell said the process was “open to everyone”.

“At the moment it’s not something we see as important,” he said.

Powell spoke to BBC-produced Newyddion S4C in the second of a series of interviews with senior figures from the main political parties.

He said the party would be ready for the Senedd election next May, with more details on policies and candidates to follow.

“We have not built what we want on this ground,” Powell said.

“There are over 16,000 members of the party and we hope by the end of the year to have the names of those standing for us and also our policies.”

Powell said the health service was one of the subjects that worried the Welsh electorate.

When asked whether Reform UK would turn to the private sector to tackle waiting lists he refused to rule it out, saying that “everything must be looked at”.

But when questioned further about privatisation, he said: “I’m not sure at the moment.”

He added that more people needed to be attracted to the health sector, and that the party wanted to look at “where we are wasting money” to be able to fund more doctors in Wales.

“In England we have found a lot of money and we can do it here,” Powell said.

Immigration is a key issue for Reform UK supporters, with the party saying it wants to “protect British identity”.

But Powell said safeguarding Welsh culture was not a priority, and that immigration was not a problem in Welsh-language strongholds such as the Llŷn Peninsula in Gwynedd.

“The immigration policies we have published recently, I believe that people are clear about what we are saying,” he added.

The Welsh Parliament is set to increase to 90 members ahead of the next election, which Reform UK has said is unnecessary.

Powell said he would “like to see the numbers go down”, although he added he was “not sure what the dynamics are going to be”.