James Evans Defects To Reform UK As Dan Thomas Named Wales Leader

On February 5, 2026, the political landscape in Wales was shaken by the high-profile defection of Senedd Member James Evans to Reform UK and the unveiling of Dan Thomas—a Welsh-born former London council leader—as the party’s new leader in Wales. The news, announced at a press conference in Newport by Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, has sparked fierce debate across the Welsh political spectrum and set the stage for a contentious run-up to the May Senedd elections.

James Evans, who represents Brecon and Radnorshire, had been sitting as an independent since January after losing the Conservative whip. His ousting by Welsh Conservative leader Darren Millar came amid suspicions that Evans was negotiating a switch to Reform UK. In a twist that few saw coming, Evans—who had previously lambasted Reform UK as “not a serious party” and accused them of making “unfunded, unrealistic promises”—now stood shoulder to shoulder with Farage, championing the very movement he once derided.

Only months earlier, Evans had been unsparing in his criticism of Reform UK. In a televised debate, he said, “Unfortunately what we see from Reform UK is unfunded, unrealistic promises to the electorate.” He went further, accusing the party of rolling back on economic policies and tax cuts because they were unfunded, and slammed them for lacking clear positions on education and the NHS. “They are not a serious party,” Evans declared at the time, even suggesting, “they’re a socialist party in all but name, they’re not a party on the right.” He also criticized Reform’s approach to the NHS, warning on X in July 2025, “They’d have everyone paying insurance before you know it, leaving people who can’t afford it, especially older and sicker people, to suffer in pain or die without care.”

Yet, at the Newport event, Evans addressed his past remarks head-on. “I acknowledge that I have been critical of Reform in the past and have done so publicly, but serious people, not career politicians, reassess when the reality refuses to go away,” he said. “I looked again, I listened, I read the detail. I saw a movement that has grown and starts where the other parties refuse to start, with the truth that Britain is broken, that Wales is broken, and nothing gets fixed until you’re willing to admit it. That’s why I am here.”

Evans also made a pointed appeal to rural Wales, stating, “It hurts me that rural Wales and farmers are seen as a problem to issues in our society when often most they offer solutions. Farmers and rural communities are not the problem, it’s the crazy policies in Cardiff Bay that are the problem. Reform will stand shoulder to shoulder with those in rural Wales.” He emphasized that “Wales does not have to accept decline. It does not have to be run by those who broke it and refuse to admit it. Britain is broken. Wales is broken. Nothing gets fixed by denial. Britain needs Reform and Wales needs it even more.”

Evans also criticized Plaid Cymru and the Green Party, arguing they would lead Wales on a “slow march” to the break-up of the United Kingdom. “I’m proudly Welsh, but I’m proudly British,” he insisted. “These things are not in conflict, and we are stronger together as one United Kingdom.”

Meanwhile, the appointment of Dan Thomas as Reform UK’s leader in Wales marked another significant development. Thomas, who grew up in the Welsh Valleys, had served as Conservative leader of Barnet Council in London from 2019 to 2022 before joining Reform UK in 2025. He described his return to Wales with his family as a homecoming. “I was born and raised in the Welsh Valleys, where my family lived for generations. My granddad was a miner, as was his dad before him,” Thomas told the Newport gathering. “After 27 years, I’m back home raising two young boys in the Valleys so they can enjoy the same beautiful Welsh countryside that I played in as a child. I’ve come back to where I belong.”

Nigel Farage, speaking to the BBC, emphasized that Thomas was not an outsider parachuted in, but someone who had “voluntarily left London, come back to the valleys, living in Islwyn, come back to his home, and he’s done that because he loves Wales. He’s done that because he wants his children to grow up being Welsh.” Farage praised Thomas’s “battle-hardened experience of running big budgets,” referencing his leadership of Barnet council.

The reaction from rival parties was swift and scathing. Welsh Labour said the unveiling of two former Conservative politicians at the Reform UK conference showed the party was “led by Tories.” A spokesperson argued, “Nigel Farage says there are no Tories in Wales – that’s because they’ve all jumped ship to Reform UK to save their own skins, with James Evans MS being the latest. And now we’ve got a man who was a London councillor until two months ago telling Wales what it needs. Ultimately it doesn’t matter who is named as Reform’s leader in Wales. They will just be Nigel Farage’s puppet, doing his bidding from Westminster and silencing the voices of the people of Wales.”

Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth was even more blunt, describing Thomas as Farage’s “lapdog.” “Two more ex-Tories defecting to Reform UK should come as no surprise to the people of Wales. Now, there is no doubt that Reform UK are simply recycled, washed-out Tories looking for a new political home now the Conservatives are dead in the water,” he said. “It doesn’t matter who Farage has selected to represent him. The so-called leader’s sole responsibility will be to get Nigel Farage into No. 10 Downing Street, because for Reform, Wales is nothing but a stepping stone.”

Jane Dodds, leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, also criticized the move, suggesting that “Even Nigel Farage thinks that Reform candidates in Wales aren’t up to the job – that’s why he’s appointed a councillor from London as leader.” She added, “The same people who trashed our economy and hollowed out public services should not be trusted to reinvent themselves and lecture Wales about change. Wales needs ambition and serious leadership focused on the things that matter to people’s lives.”

Reform UK, until now represented in the Senedd only by Laura Anne Jones (who defected from the Conservatives in July 2025), now boasts two members and a new Welsh leader. The party’s leadership team, however, is not without controversy: its last leader in Wales, Nathan Gill, was sentenced in November 2025 to ten and a half years in prison for accepting bribes to make pro-Russian statements as an MEP.

As the Senedd elections scheduled for May 7, 2026, approach, the entrance of Evans and Thomas into Reform UK’s leadership cadre has electrified Welsh politics. Whether these high-profile defections will revitalize Reform UK’s fortunes or merely deepen existing divisions remains to be seen, but one thing is clear: the battle for Wales is only just beginning.