Reform is one-man personality cult, says top Welsh Tory

Nigel Farage's Reform UK is a "one-man personality cult" with no serious solutions for Wales, Tory Senedd leader Darren Millar said on Saturday.

The politician used a speech at Welsh Conservative conference in Llangollen to put "clear blue water" between his party and Reform.

Millar claimed that Reform UK have "utterly failed" to offer any "real, serious, costed or deliverable solutions".

Reform has performed better than the Conservatives in recent polling for the next Senedd election in May 2026, competing for first place with Plaid Cymru and Labour.

Opinion polls have suggested a four way split among most voters, with the latest poll indicating that Plaid Cymru had the most support at 30%, with Reform on 25%, Labour 18% and the Tories 13%.

Reform came second in 13 Welsh seats at the last general election but failed to win any MPs.

It has yet to pick someone to be the party's main spokesperson or leader, and has not announced who might stand for the party.

Millar has used the event to argue that his party is the only "credible" alternative to Welsh Labour.

In his second speech to the conference, Millar addressed "the idea that the answer to Labour is to vote Reform".

He said: "I share many of your concerns about unsustainable levels of immigration, the impact of net zero on energy bills and jobs and the woke agenda.

"But wagging a finger and shouting about these things from the side-lines is easy.

"Reform have utterly failed to offer any real, serious, costed or deliverable solutions for the problems they spout about.

"Nor have they been honest to the public about the limitations of the Senedd's powers to address some of these issues."

There is "clear blue water between the Welsh Conservatives and Reform", Millar said, in a reference to the phrase "clear red water" used to explain the difference between Welsh and Westminster Labour under the late first minister Rhodri Morgan.

He said: "They are a one-man personality cult – we Welsh Conservatives are a united team.

"They are a limited company – we are a professional political party.

"And where they offer slogans – we offer serious solutions."

As the second party in the Senedd, the Conservatives are keen to present themselves as a government in waiting ahead of the next election.

But the party has polled in fourth place in recent opinion polls.

The next Senedd will introduce a new system that will better reflect how people voted in the result.

That means that, without a surprise result, it is likely that two or more parties would need to work together to help form the next Welsh government.

That could be either through a coalition or a more informal agreement.

In a bid to rally his members, Millar said his speech "marks the begging of a campaign" to "win back the trust of the people of Wales".

He attacked Plaid Cymru, saying the party has been "joined at the hip" with Labour for years.

"They claim to be serving fresh ideas up but they are about as fresh as the stench from a Welsh water sewage spill," he said.

"Labour failures are Plaid failures," he's said.

He said the Conservatives would prevent "any progress toward Plaid's aim of tearing Wales apart from the rest of our precious United Kingdom".

The Welsh Conservative Senedd leader also criticised the Labour First Minister Eluned Morgan. He claimed that "in spite of being a woman" he couldn't "define what a woman actually is".

Millar promised that a Welsh Conservative government would ensure a M4 Relief Road was "actually delivered" and would scrap the 20mph default speed limit.

He said the Conservative would get rid of Welsh government "waste" to pay for a 1p cut to the base rate of income tax.

Millar listed tree planting schemes in Africa and "ministerial junkets to climate conferences" as items the Tories would cease funding, and reiterated his pledge to establish a Welsh Winter Fuel Allowance.

He was followed by shadow Welsh secretary Mims Davies, who told the conference that it would take "time" for the party to win back trust.

"We cannot rush to find quick answers or slogans for a UK general election," she said.

On Saturday the party's shadow education secretary Natasha Asghar told the conference the Conservative party would ban mobile phones in schools.

She said: "It is a fact that mobile phones can be a major distraction, taking our student's focus away from learning."

Asghar said a Welsh Conservative government would require students caught with knives to be automatically expelled, "no ifs, no buts".

She added that she intended to introduce "essential life skills" to schools, listing budgeting, opening a bank account, cooking and healthy eating as things it could cover.

On Friday Millar said he would be willing to work with "anyone" to get Labour out of power, not ruling out working with Plaid Cymru or Reform.

He laid out a series of policies including a promise to bring down NHS waiting times and reinstate home economics in schools.

By Gareth Lewis, BBC Wales political editor

There are optimists, pessimists and realists at the Conservative conference, but they all agree on one thing: the party has a huge fight on its hands at next year's election.

Where they differ is how much better - or worse - things could get for them.

More than one Conservative has suggested to me this weekend that their best chance of turning things around would be if Reform were to implode.

That in itself is an acknowledgement that matters could be – to a certain extent – out of their hands already.

And for all the strong language in the speech, Darren Millar – definitely one of the optimists – has not ruled out a deal with Reform either.