Helen Jenner elected as new leader of Reform UK Wales

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Helen Jenner MS is the new Leader of Reform UK Wales.  The Bangor Conwy Mon Senedd Member, who was previously the Deputy Leader of Reform UK Wales, was elected by her colleagues on Monday morning.  Born in Neath and raised in Anglesey, Jenner is a married mother of two and was a teacher for fifteen years before being elected to the Senedd to serve Bangor Conwy Mon in May 2026. Commenting, Helen Jenner MS, Leader of Reform Wales, said:“I’m thrilled to have the support of my fantastic colleagues to lead Reform here in Wales. “Back in May the voters gave us a clear mandate to smash the establishment and to bring common sense to Cardiff Bay.  “Week in, week out, that’s exactly what we’ve done, and we’re not going to stop until we get the real change Wales deserves.” The new leadership is announced after Dan Thomas stepped down as Welsh leader of Reform UK last week following a police report, despite being released without charge. He continues to serve as a Senedd Member. In a statement, Mr Thomas said: “It has been the honour of my life to have been the leader of Reform Wales and see this party go from zero to 34 elected members and become the largest opposition group in Welsh history. With deep regret, I am now standing down from this position due to personal reasons. “Over the weekend, I was reported to the police and was released without charge. I stress that I have done nothing wrong, but I do not want the coming headlines to be a distraction from the fantastic work our Senedd team is doing in holding this government to account. “I will continue to serve my constituents in Casnewydd Islwyn and will fully back whoever the group selects as its next leader.” ©Video: BBC Wales

Transcript

00:00A show of strength after a week that rocked reform.

00:03This is the image the party would like to portray.

00:06Nigel Farage in town, a new Welsh leader to unveil,

00:09and a party united behind her.

00:11But this was more muted than previous Nigel Farage visits.

00:14No throngs of supporters, no pyrotechnics,

00:17just reform MSs, staff and media.

00:20Dan Thomas, I thought, was doing a brilliant job.

00:23I am sorry for his personal difficulties that he's going through.

00:28No-one's life is ever seamless.

00:31And I'm quite sure he will come out of these before too long.

00:35But it was pretty much untenable for him to continue as leader.

00:41So we very quickly and rapidly have moved to electing a new leader.

00:47And as you can see, Helen Jenner is now the leader of Reform in Wales

00:53and the group here in the States.

00:57It's an absolute honour for me to be elected

00:59as the new leader of Reform, Cymru.

01:02I am intending to build on the great work

01:05that we've already been doing here

01:06in holding Plaid Cymru to account,

01:09holding this government to account,

01:10and will continue to build on our successes

01:12in order to work towards becoming the government in 2030.

01:17Nigel Farage admitted the past week had been tough,

01:20calling it a bump in the road.

01:21So does he regret appointing Dan Thomas in the first place?

01:25No, Dan Thomas is a very capable, able man,

01:28born and raised in the Valleys,

01:29went to London, did well in business,

01:31worked his way up through local politics,

01:33became leader of Barnet Council,

01:35responsible for a big budget,

01:37has moved back home.

01:40And I think over the course of the last six months,

01:42given great leadership.

01:43I think he's really established himself here in the Chamber

01:45and out around Wales as a genuine voice of opposition.

01:48I'm sure he'll sort these things out,

01:50he'll continue as a member,

01:51but no, I believe he was the right choice, absolutely.

01:55Helen Jenner was not the unanimous choice of her fellow MS's.

01:59Last week, economy spokesperson James Evans

02:01ruled himself out of the running,

02:03but said he had majority support in the group.

02:06This morning, Helen Jenner defeated

02:07the party's economy spokesperson, Jason O'Connell,

02:10in a secret ballot.

02:12Is there a unity issue for you?

02:13I don't think we have a unity issue.

02:15I think, look, you know,

02:16it was a really difficult time for us.

02:18They say a week's a long time in politics,

02:20and it certainly is.

02:21To be honest, 24 hours was a long time in politics.

02:23When you have 30-odd people in a room,

02:25it's very rare that everybody is going to like

02:27everything that everybody else says, OK?

02:29So that's the truth of it.

02:30But I think, ultimately, we are united

02:31and we're looking forward to the next steps.

02:33So who is she?

02:34Helen Jenner was elected to the Senedd

02:36in the Bangor Conoy Mourn seat in May's election.

02:39It's an area she knows well,

02:41after attending school on Anglesey

02:42and studying English literature at Bangor University.

02:45She went on to work as a teacher,

02:47including at the prestigious Brit School in London.

02:50But her limelight was to come on the political stage,

02:53starting her journey in the 2019 general election,

02:56where she stood for the Brexit party.

02:59Plaid Cymru has claimed that reform has no interest

03:01in improving the lives of the people of Wales

03:03and that a new leader won't alter that.

03:05Labour says there are questions about reform stability here.

03:08Nigel Farage's party would like to move on from last week,

03:12but with police investigations continuing

03:13and Dan Thomas continuing to sit as a reform MS,

03:17the story will continue to linger.

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