Nigel Farage says Reform UK is competing to be the biggest party in Wales, with the party targeting the Senedd elections a year from now.
It comes after his party’s victories in the Runcorn and Helsby by-election in Cheshire, taking the party’s number of seats in the Commons to five, and other local election contests in England.
The next Senedd election takes place on 7 May, 2026.
Asked about what next, he said: “What’s next is planning, preparing for the Welsh and Scottish Parliament elections next year. In Wales if you believe the opinion polls we’re competing potentially to be the biggest party in Wales and in Scotland we’ve made great advances and the Conservative Party there has almost disappeared.
The Reform leader said that they “dug very deep into the Labour vote” in the Cheshire constituency and have “dug very deep into the Conservative vote” in other parts of England.
In one of the closest parliamentary contests ever, new Runcorn and Helsby MP Sarah Pochin took the seat which Labour won with a majority of more than 14,000 last year by just six votes.
Ms Pochin’s victory takes Reform’s number of seats in the Commons up to five. Five MPs were elected for the party last year, but the whip has since been suspended from Rupert Lowe.
Meanwhile, former Conservative minister Dame Andrea Jenkyns was elected for Reform UK as the first Greater Lincolnshire mayor with a majority of almost 40,000 over her former party.
