Farage to inform Wales their administration ‘letting down’ the general public

Nigel Farage will today launch his Reform Party manifesto in Wales with a blistering attack on the country’s Labour administration.

The Reform leader plans to tell voters that their devolved administration is ‘letting down’ the public and warn that Britain will follow suit if Sir Keir Starmer gets the keys to No10 on July 4.

Reform – who are on course to win seven seats in parliament and are threatening to overtake the Tories‘ national vote share – will take the fight to Sir Keir after so far focusing on winning over Conservative voters.

Mr Farage has repeatedly conceded that Labour will comfortably win the election and that voters should elect Reform MPs to hold them to account.

But Brexit-voting Wales could present a chance for Reform to craft a narrative of working-class voters being let down by the Tories in Westminster and the devolved Labour administration at home.

‘One of the reasons we are launching our Contract with the people of Britain in Wales is because it shows everyone exactly what happens to a country when Labour is in charge,’ Mr Farage said last night.

‘Schools are worse than in England, NHS waiting lists are longer than in England, Covid restrictions were even tighter than in England and now Welsh motorists are being soaked by literally hundreds of speed cameras to enforce the deeply unpopular new 20mph blanket speed limit in towns and villages.

‘Since devolution, the Welsh have been ignored by the London political establishment and let down by the Labour administration they elected.

‘Meanwhile, the Tories have been the official opposition almost solidly since 2016 and have achieved zilch, which probably explains why we are neck-and-neck with them in the polls in Wales.

‘So, if you want a picture of what the whole country will be like with a Starmer government and a feeble Conservative opposition, come to Wales and then hear us unveil a better future for all of Britain.’ 

Senior Conservatives have also attempted to use Labour’s record in Wales – whether it be on NHS waiting lists or anti-motorist policies – as a warning to how Sir Keir would govern in Westminster. 

Despite a successful no-confidence vote in Welsh Labour First Minister Vaughan Gething, Sir Keir’s party continue to dominate the polls in Wales. The latest YouGov poll shows them on 45 per cent, compared to the Conservatives on 18 per cent.

Mr Farage has already unveiled his six-year plan to make Reform the largest party in parliament – firstly by becoming the main opposition to a Starmer government before winning the 2029 election outright.

Reform are primarily set to take votes off the Conservative Party, but it now appears that Labour are also in their sights. A recent YouGov MRP forecasts Reform winning no seats overall, but coming second in 27, every time behind the Labour candidate.

Mr Farage also boated about Reform now having 50,000 members, according to the latest party figures. In the entirety of UKIP’s prominent period in British politics, their maximum membership figure was around 46,000.

‘Something is happening out there,’ the party leader said.

Reform raised £1.5million worth of funds in the days after Mr Farage’s return as leader earlier this month. 

Senior Conservative figure David Davis warned that Farage was ‘trying to destroy’ the Tories, as the party continued to see Reform eating into their vote.

He told Times Radio: ‘Farage is trying to destroy the Conservative Party. That is his explicit aim.

‘When somebody tries to burn down the golf club, you don’t offer them membership, do you?’

Ex-Cabinet minister Robert Jenrick took his attack to Richard Tice, accusing the Reform chairman of being a Labour ‘sleeper agent’.

Mr Jenrick added: “I not only understand the frustrations of Reform voters, I share them.

“But a vote for Reform can only deliver a Labour one-party state that increases taxes and immigration.”