Farage's favourites set to get the nod in Wales

Is Nigel Farage about to upset many of his own members? Rumours in Wales are that the one-man band which is Reform is planning to stitch up candidate selection ahead of next year’s Senedd election.

Insider email The Will Hayward Newsletter reported this week that Farage himself was to select the No 1 candidate for each of the 16 super-constituency lists ahead of the election in May. Under Wales’ new electoral system, each of the 16 can be pretty much assured of a seat in the new 96-member Senedd, meaning the dear leader will want loyal, and potentially even competent, colleagues in place.

The move is likely to upset grassroots members who are said to feel strongly that the selection of candidates should be done by local associations. Reform’s candidate for the recent Caerphilly by-election, Llŷr Powell – or ‘Welsh Dave’ as Farage, who can’t be bothered to learn the pronunciation of his name, calls him – was imposed on high by London, but members were assuaged it was because of the lack of time for a formal selection.

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In the event Powell was a disaster, conspiring to lose a by-election Reform threw the kitchen sink at, focusing exclusively on immigration in a constituency with hardly any and rolling his eyes during a live TV debate at a woman concerned about the racism faced by her mixed-race children. Is it any wonder even Reform’s dutiful members are concerned about who Farage might opt for this time around?

Meanwhile, Reform still haven’t confirmed who their Welsh leader, and thus candidate for first minister, will be with little more than four months to go. This may be due to a lack of credible options – Powell blotted his copybook in Caerphilly while the party’s only MS Laura Anne Jones, a summer Tory defector, was suspended from the Senedd for racial slurs last month and is considered a liability.

But BBC Wales and ITV Wales continue to worry the delay is because Farage wants himself to represent the party in planned TV debates, despite not standing in the election personally. Rats in a Sack hears both would attempt to block such a move – but are aware Reform would likely chance legal action were they to do so.