Overview

• On July 22 at the Royal Welsh Show, Laura Anne Jones left the Conservatives after 31 years to join Reform UK, giving the party its first seat in the Welsh Parliament
• On July 23, two Conservative councillors from Conwy, Thomas Montgomery and Louise Emery, resigned to join Reform UK, boosting its local council presence to 13 members across Wales
• Jones described the Conservative Party as “unrecognisable” and called Welsh governance “a complete mess,” while Reform leader Nigel Farage hailed her move as a “big step forward”
• Recent polls show Reform UK and Plaid Cymru vying for second place in Wales on about 25 percent support, with under a year to go until the Senedd expands from 60 to 96 members
• Defectors have faced past controversies—from a racist WhatsApp slur to expenses investigations—but South Wales Police closed its fraud probe into Jones in December 2024, finding no evidence