Reform UK won the night last week in a dominant performance in English local elections, but history tells us every election night is different. We’re not a year away from the upcoming Senedd Election, but can Reform, a party who have never won a seat in Wales, change their fortune and make waves here for the first time.
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00:00In 12 months' time, people in towns and cities and villages all across Wales will be voting
00:07in what is set to be the biggest Senate election in years.
00:11Biggest physically in terms of the number of Senate members, with 96 seats up for grabs
00:15compared to 60 in previous cycles, but biggest politically with the Labour Party with a vice-like
00:20grip traditionally in Wales slipping, the demise of the Conservatives, and Plaid Cymru
00:24and Reform UK both neck and neck in polls, offering a new alternative to Welsh Labour.
00:29Reform though is definitely the hot topic at the moment, and after a dominant display
00:33in local elections in England, we'll be hoping to win their first ever seats here in Wales.
00:38I'm in Newport, a traditional Labour stronghold, finding out if people think the huge surge
00:42in reform backing can continue into Wales.
00:46I think it could easily change, yes, the way that people are feeling, not just in Wales,
00:51but yeah, I think that people just want a change, so yes, I think that could happen.
00:57Well, I think they should be encouraged, for sure, because obviously it's not a lot of progress
01:03to be made so far, you know, nothing to put on paper that makes sense, so yeah, I don't
01:08know, it's time will tell, but it's who knows really at the moment to tell me, yeah.
01:13I'm not a big fan of Michael Farage, I can't lie, he's not, he's not at my tally, like,
01:19and I'm not a fan of some of the stuff he's been saying either, to be fair. I've been Labour
01:24all my life, to be honest with you, so I don't know, I'd like to see where it goes, but...
01:28I'd like to think so, I think we need a bit of a change around here really, it's been
01:32stagnant for a long time, and you know, people vote for what their parents voted Labour for
01:39a long time, so I think, maybe it is, but we'll have to see, maybe it was just a protest
01:44vote that got a lot of publicity, we will see as things develop.
01:52Reform UK is a divisive party, and they themselves know that. They have a unique appeal to voters,
01:57particularly those who are looking outside of the traditional Labour and Conservatives,
02:01like happened in England, but what is it that brings so much appeal?
02:05I think it's the leader, to be honest, because the way he speaks candidly and openly, I think
02:13he's the show, if I'm honest with you, I don't know about all the other people around
02:18them, but he seems to be stealing the limelight, and people are looking for somebody to trust,
02:23so I think the main asset is the leadership, so that won't be enough on its own, I don't
02:31think.
02:32I think they might do, yes, I think they do, because people want to change, don't they?
02:38And I think, yeah, I think that's the start of something.
02:42Personally, I don't know why I'd like them, it's just some of the things they've said kind
02:47of speak to me a bit more.
02:48Yeah.
02:49Better than Labour did.
02:50Honestly.
02:51That's just our opinion, really.
02:52You seem to be a bit more down to earth.
02:53Yeah.
02:54You seem to be a bit more down to earth.
02:55Yeah.
02:56You seem to be a bit more down to earth.
02:57Yeah.
02:58Yeah.
02:59Sure.
03:00Umm.
03:01Yeah.
03:02They kind of certainly