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Reform UK has unveiled its manifesto for the Senedd election, with leader Nigel Farage declaring the 7 May vote a direct challenge to Sir Keir Starmer’s premiership.
Launching the document at the International Convention Centre in Newport, Welsh leader Dan Thomas described it as a “blueprint for real change”, claiming the party was “ready for government” and would “put the people of Wales first”.
Key pledges
Among the headline promises is a 1p cut to every band of Welsh income tax – going further than the Conservatives, who pledged to cut only the basic rate. The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) estimates the policy could cost £371m in 2026/27. Reform said the cut would be funded through “reductions in expenditure elsewhere”.
The manifesto also commits to building an M4 relief road in south Wales and upgrading the A55 in north Wales. Farage told BBC Wales the M4 was “a bit of a disaster”, saying Thomas wanted to “get private capital in, make it a toll road and give the people the option of doing it”. The M4 relief road was last seriously considered by the Welsh Government before former first minister Mark Drakeford scrapped the scheme in 2019.
20mph, housing and health
Reform pledged to scrap default 20mph speed limits in built-up areas, end the Welsh Government’s Nation of Sanctuary policy, and prioritise “Welsh people for social housing” – which a party spokesman said would be “based on long-term residence”.
On health, the party vowed to keep the NHS free at the point of use but said changes were needed. Thomas suggested reducing the number of health boards, saying: “There are too many health boards in my opinion. There’s a saving to be made there.”
Other commitments include scrapping Natural Resources Wales, cutting the Welsh civil service headcount by 10% with a pay freeze, reforming the Sustainable Farming Scheme to “let farmers farm”, and holding referendums if councils raise council tax by 5% or more.
Energy and environment
Farage addressed climate change by saying “he doesn’t know the science” but argued that “closing down primary steel production in Port Talbot” was harming the environment. “But if we obsess about carbon dioxide, we are de-industrialising the United Kingdom,” he added.
The manifesto pledges to ban new onshore wind farms, be an “active enabler of nuclear development”, and terminate funding for heat pumps.
‘Déjà vu’
IFS economist David Phillips said the manifesto bore a striking resemblance to the Welsh Conservative manifesto published earlier in the week, and that Reform had “not fully faced up” to the realities of Welsh Government spending. He warned that tax cuts “would likely necessitate cuts in at least some services used by households”.
Farage hit back at comparisons with the Tories, telling reporters to “forget” about the party, predicting they would be “obliterated”.
Polling suggests Reform is competing with Plaid Cymru for first place in the Senedd election. Two sitting Conservative MSs – Laura Anne Jones and James Evans – along with former Welsh secretary David Jones, have joined the party in the past year.
A heckler briefly interrupted Farage’s speech before being escorted out by security.
