Multiple Resignations Shake Reform UK Candidate List in Pen-y-Bont Bro Morgannwg
The representation of Reform UK in the Senedd constituency covering Bridgend and the Vale of Glamorgan has become uncertain following the resignation of three of its six election candidates.
A party source confirmed that Derek Roberts, who was second on the Reform UK list in Pen-y-Bont Bro Morgannwg, has stepped down citing "personal reasons" that have not been publicly disclosed.
Additionally, Owain Clatworthy, the sixth candidate on the list, resigned in protest against the party's candidate selection process. These resignations followed the departure of Corey Edwards, the first candidate on the list, who withdrew last week after a photograph surfaced showing him appearing to perform a Nazi salute.
Reform UK has informed the BBC that it intends to present a full candidate list for the election scheduled for 7 May. However, the party has yet to announce replacements for the three departing candidates. The deadline for nominations is 9 April.
In total, Reform UK has lost four candidates across Wales in the span of one week, with two others having withdrawn prior to the publication of the party's candidate lists.
Corey Edwards and Derek Roberts, as the first and second candidates on the list respectively, held the strongest prospects for election in the constituency.
A party insider noted that Roberts, a former military member, "stepped back for personal reasons but remains an active champion for veterans in his community."
Owain Clatworthy, who was placed sixth on the list for Pen-y-Bont Bro Morgannwg, was elected as a councillor in Bridgend last year.
Clatworthy announced his resignation from Reform UK via social media, stating that "recent events, including poor internal decision making, a lack of discipline and serious concerns around candidate selection, have made it clear to me that Reform UK is no longer operating in a way that reflects the standards I believe the public deserve."
He further criticized the party for selecting candidates "with little or no connection to the communities they seek to represent."
In an interview with BBC Wales, Clatworthy expressed his disillusionment:
"The country is in a mess and it's easy to complain and I thought Reform were the answer.
From day one up until now the way I have been treated, and members and other councillors have been treated by the leadership team, is not good."
He also alleged that the party had inadequately vetted candidates, stating that the photograph of Edwards "really did it for me. I can't support a party that would be happy to back something like that."
Clatworthy added, "It sends the wrong message and it became a distraction," emphasizing that he had not been concerned about his sixth-place position and had been willing to support the party.
Nigel Farage defended Edwards regarding the salute photograph, claiming Edwards was impersonating the character Basil Fawlty. Edwards resigned the following day.
Under the new Senedd voting system, parties must submit lists of candidates for each of the 16 constituencies.
While candidates ranked below third place are less likely to be elected, parties are required to have at least six candidates on each constituency list to be eligible to spend up to the full campaign limit.
Another Reform UK candidate, Patrick Benham-Crosswell, announced his resignation last week. The fourth-placed candidate in Gŵyr Abertawe stated on Facebook that the party's "professionalisation of the party has led it to take its members and candidates for granted."
Benham-Crosswell's resignation followed the withdrawal of two other candidates from the Pontypridd Cynon Merthyr constituency, occurring the day before Reform UK announced its official candidate lists.
One of these candidates, Andrew Barry, also declared his intention to resign from the party amid disputes over other candidates being "parachuted in" to his area.
A separate source indicated that local Reform UK branches "were in turmoil."
In February, Torfaen Reform councillor Jason O'Connell, who has since been named the party's lead candidate for Pontypridd Cynon Merthyr in the Senedd election, described the party's vetting process as "brutal" and "intrusive."
He told BBC Radio Wales' Sunday Supplement programme:
"Social media now has been around for 20-plus years, there's a lot of history there.
We've turned down some genuinely good people just on the off chance that they might have said something slightly off the wall 10, 20 years ago.
We've lost that ability to bring them in because as, I said, digital is forever."
It is anticipated that all major parties will contest the Pen-y-Bont Bro Morgannwg constituency. Full candidate lists are expected to be released following the close of nominations.
