Leader of Reform UK Wales

From the 15 May 2019 to the 19 October 2020 when the party was known as the Brexit Party, its Welsh leader was Mark Reckless, a Member of the Senedd (MS) for South Wales East. Reckless was initially elected in May 2016 as a member of UKIP. He left UKIP in 2017, and was admitted to the Conservative group in the Welsh Assembly, though not to the Conservative Party itself, however for purposes of Assembly business he was treated as a Conservative AM. In 2019 Reckless left the Conservative Group to sit as an independent assembly member. Then in May 2019 he joined the Brexit Party and became its first Welsh leader.^[3] He then left the party and joined the Abolish the Welsh Assembly Party.^[4] He said since Brexit had been effectively achieved, the work of the Brexit Party was complete.^[5] Two weeks later, the Brexit Party was rebranded as Reform UK.^[6]

From the 26 March 2021 to the 8 May 2021 the office was held by Nathan Gill. Gill was a Member of the European Parliament for Wales between July 2014 until the UK left the EU in January 2021. He was elected as a member of UKIP, before leaving to serve as an independent between 2018 and 2019, and then after joining the party, he finally served as a member of the Brexit Party from 2019, being relected as a MEP in the same year for the party. He was UKIP's Welsh Leader between 2014 and 2016, and was also a member of the Senedd for UKIP representatiing North Wales between 2016 and 2017. In 2018 Gill subsequently left UKIP, citing much infighting and distractions. He had disagreements with his successor as UKIP's Welsh Leader, Neil Hamilton, and was opposed to the party leader Gerard Batten's links to far-right activist Tommy Robinson.^[7] He joined the new Brexit Party in February 2019,^[8][9] and after the party renamed itself Reform UK in January 2021, he became its Welsh leader in March 2021.^[4] Gill was a regional list candidate in the 2021 Senedd election for the North Wales electoral region ^[10] but was not elected.^[11] He quit Reform UK shortly afterwards.^[12] Gill was subsequently convicted in November 2025 to 10 and a half years in prison for taking bribes to make Pro-Russia statements while a member of the European parliament.^[13]

From 2021 until 2026, the leader of Reform UK Wales remained vacant.

On the 5th February 2026, Dan Thomas was appointed as Reform's Welsh Leader.^[1][14][2] Thomas was born, and grow up in Wales, but moved to London when he was 18, where he served as a Conservative Party councillor on Barnet London Borough Council from 2006 to 2025, serving as leader of the council from 2019 to 2022, and as leader of the opposition Conservative group on the council following 2022. He defected to Reform UK in June 2025.^[15] He later resigned from the council on 31 December 2025, leaving a vacant seat heading into the 2026 election, before moving to back to Wales with his family.^[16][17]

In his announcement regarding Thomas's appointment as Welsh Leader, Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage, said: "He has voluntarily left London, come back to the Valleys, living in Islwyn, come back to his home, and he's done that because he loves Wales." However, Nation.Cymru reported that a source told it that Thomas had actually moved to Bath, England.^[18] Following speculation in the media about where Thomas lived, Reform UK said: "Dan lives in Wales. Any claim to the contrary is entirely false. He lives here in Wales, where he is raising his young family". They also confirmed that he owns a property portfolio, which included a property in Bath that is rented out and not his main residence.^[19] ITV Wales confirmed they had seen proof that Dan Thomas was added to the electoral roll in the Caerphilly borough area in July 2025. A Reform UK spokesperson said: "Dan is on the electoral roll here in Wales".^[20]

On the 1st April 2026, Thomas appointed Helen Jenner as Deputy Leader of Reform UK Wales. She is the party's lead candidate for the Bangor Conwy Môn at the 2026 Senedd election.^[21] She previously contested the Ynys Môn constituency at the 2019 general election for Reform UK under it's previous name of the Brexit Party, where she came fourth out of four candidates, receiving 6% of the vote.^[22]

1. [a]

   Reckless was known as the leader of the Brexit Party in Wales. The Brexit Party renamed itself Reform UK in January 2021, two months after Reckless resigned from the party to join the Abolish the Welsh Assembly Party.