Leader of Reform UK Wales

Last updated

Leader of Reform UK Wales
Incumbent
Dan Thomas
since 5 February 2026
Style Party Leader
Formation15 May 2019 (original)
5 February 2026 (current)
First holder Mark Reckless

The Leader of Reform UK Wales is the most senior position within the wing of Reform UK in Wales. The current holder is Dan Thomas, who defected from the Conservative Party in 2025. He was appointed leader on 5 February 2026. [1] [2] The position has previously been held by Mark Reckless and Nathan Gill.

Contents

History

From the 15 May 2019 to the 19 October 2020 when the party was known as the Brexit Party, it's Welsh Leader was Mark Reckless, a Member of the Senedd (MS) for South Wales East. Reckless was initially elected in May 2016 as a member of UKIP, in 2017 he left UKIP and was admitted to the Conservative group in the Welsh Assembly, though not to the Conservative Party itself. For purposes of Assembly business, he was treated as a Conservative AM. In 2019, Reckless left the Conservative Group to sit as an independent assembly member. Then in May 2019 he joined the Brexit Party and became it's first Welsh Leader. [3] He then left the party and joined the Abolish the Welsh Assembly Party. [4] He said, since Brexit had been effectively achieved, the work of the Brexit Party was complete. [5] Two weeks later, the Brexit Party was rebranded as Reform UK. [6]

From the 26 March 2021 to the 8 May 2021, the office was held by Nathan Gill. Gill was a Member of the European Parliament for Wales between July 2014 until the UK left the EU in January 2021. He was first elected as a member of UKIP, then as an independent between 2018 and 2019, and then finaly as a member the Brexit Party from 2019. He was UKIP's Welsh Leader between 2014 and 2016, he was also a Member of the Senedd for North Wales between 2016 and 2017. In 2018 Gill subsequently left UKIP, citing much infighting and distractions. He had disagreements with his successor as UKIP's Welsh Leader, Neil Hamilton, and was opposed to the party leader Gerard Batten's links to far-right activist Tommy Robinson. [7] He joined the new Brexit Party in February 2019, [8] [9] and after the party renamed itself Reform UK in January 2021, he became it's Welsh Leader in March 2021. [10] Gill was a regional list candidate in the 2021 Senedd election for the North Wales electoral region [11] but was not elected. [12] He quit Reform UK shortly afterwards. [13]

From 2021 until 2026, the Leader of Reform UK Wales remained vacant.

On the 5 February 2026, Dan Thomas was appointed as Reform's Welsh Leader. [1] [2] Thomas was born, and grow up in Wales, but moved to London when he was 18, where he served as a Conservative Party councillor on Barnet London Borough Council from 2006 to 2025, serving as leader of the council from 2019 to 2022, and as leader of the opposition Conservative group on the council following 2022. He defected to Reform UK in June 2025. [14] He later resigned from the council on 31 December 2025, leaving a vacant seat heading into the 2026 election, before moving to back to Wales with his family. [15] [16]

List

LeaderPortraitTook officeLeft office Reform UK Leader
Mark Reckless [a] Mark Reckless AM (3x4 crop).jpg 15 May 201919 October 2020 Nigel Farage
Nathan Gill Nathan Gill official portrait as an MEP in 2019.jpg 26 March 20218 May 2021 Richard Tice
Dan Thomas 6 February 2026Incumbent Nigel Farage

Notes

  1. ↑ Reckless was known as the Leader of the Brexit Party in Wales. The Brexit Party renamed itself Reform UK in January 2021, two weeks after Reckless resigned from the party to join the Abolish the Welsh Assembly Party.

References

  1. 1 2 "Reform UK's Welsh leader Dan Thomas announced by Nigel Farage at rally in Newport". BBC News. 2026-02-05. Archived from the original on 2026-02-05. Retrieved 2026-02-05.
  2. 1 2 "Nigel Farage unveils leader of Reform UK in Wales plus Senedd Member defection". ITV News . 5 February 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. ↑ "Assembly members join forces with Farage". 15 May 2019. Archived from the original on 15 May 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
  4. ↑ Reform UK Wales [@reformukwales] (26 March 2021). "After almost a quarter of a century of one party rule it's time to reform Wales
    Nathan was a leading figure in the fight to ensure UK laws are created by politicians accountable to us Now it's time to reform those laws
    @NathanGillMEP
    #Senedd21 #Wales2021 #ReformUK"     (Tweet). Archived from the original on 27 November 2025. Retrieved 27 March 2021– via Twitter.
  5. ↑ "Mark Reckless quits Brexit Party to joins Senedd abolition party". BBC News. 2020-10-19. Archived from the original on 2020-11-01. Retrieved 2020-11-02.
  6. ↑ Mhaoileoin, Niamh Ní (10 May 2016). "He's linked to cash for questions and mimicked Hitler in Berlin — now he leads UKIP in the Senedd". Left Foot Forward. Archived from the original on 30 June 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  7. ↑ Gill, Nathan (6 December 2018). "I have not left UKIP, UKIP has left me. It is with regret and sadness that today I am resigning from UKIP". @NathanGillMEP. Archived from the original on 22 May 2019. Retrieved 6 December 2018– via Twitter.
  8. ↑ "Gill set to join Farage's Brexit party". 10 February 2019. Archived from the original on 23 September 2019. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  9. ↑ "Why I am joining The Brexit Party". Facebook . Archived from the original on 21 February 2025. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  10. ↑ Reform UK Wales [@reformukwales] (26 March 2021). "After almost a quarter of a century of one party rule it's time to reform Wales
    Nathan was a leading figure in the fight to ensure UK laws are created by politicians accountable to us Now it's time to reform those laws
    @NathanGillMEP
    #Senedd21 #Wales2021 #ReformUK"     (Tweet). Archived from the original on 27 November 2025. Retrieved 27 March 2021– via Twitter.
  11. ↑ "2021 Senedd Election North Wales Region Statement of Persons Nominated" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-04-09. Retrieved 2026-02-05.
  12. ↑ Mosalski, Ruth (7 May 2021). "Senedd election 2021 result for North Wales". WalesOnline. Archived from the original on 22 July 2025. Retrieved 5 February 2026.
  13. ↑ "Reform UK Wales leader Nathan Gill stopped being a member of the party straight after the Senedd election". Nation.Cymru. 16 March 2022. Archived from the original on 28 December 2025. Retrieved 5 February 2026.
  14. ↑ "Former London Tory council leader latest to defect to Nigel Farage's Reform". The Standard. 30 June 2025. Archived from the original on 29 August 2025. Retrieved 5 February 2026.
  15. ↑ Floyd, David (31 December 2025). "Former council leader quits council". Barnet Post. Retrieved 10 January 2026.
  16. ↑ Mosalski, Ruth (2026-02-05). "Everything we know about new Wales leader of Reform UK Dan Thomas". Wales Online. Archived from the original on 2026-02-05. Retrieved 2026-02-05.
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