Reform UK targets 2026 Senedd election as party poll puts them ahead of Conservatives in Wales

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage says his party is targeting the 2026 Senedd election, pointing to a poll that the party has commissioned which suggests it would be the third most popular party if a Senedd election were held now, ahead of the Conservatives here in Wales.

Reform's Welsh conference is taking place in Newport on Friday November 8.

In the poll conducted by Survation, which surveyed 2,006 adults living in Wales, 30% of respondents said they would use their Senedd vote for a constituency representative to vote Labour if the election was called now, with Plaid Cymru on 21%, Reform on 20%, Conservatives on 17%, Liberal Democrats on 6% and Greens on 5%.

The next Senedd election will take place on May 7, 2026.

Reform doesn't currently have a seat in the Welsh Parliament and did not win a seat in Wales at the 2024 UK General Election, although it finished second in 13 of the 32 constituencies, including a number of the south Wales valleys seats.

Speakers at the party's conference in Newport include party leader Nigel Farage, who became MP for Clacton in July, party chairman Zia Yusuf and Lee Anderson MP.

Nigel Farage MP said: "The Senedd elections are now just 18 months away. This new poll shows Reform ahead of the Conservatives in Wales on 19%, and we are on 26% in the Valleys. Only Reform can be the challenger to Labour.

"The people of Wales have been failed by Labour for nearly three decades now. Half of all voters think they have handled the NHS badly.

"Our conference in Newport today marks the start of our efforts to present a fresh choice to an electorate who have been badly let down. Wales needs Reform."

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