Nigel Farage has confirmed Reform UK’s new Welsh leader is Helen Jenner.
Ms Jenner, who has served as Wales’s deputy leader since April, is a former teacher and Senedd member for Bangor Conwy Mon.
Speaking from a press conference today, Mr Farage said: “Helen Jenner is now the leader of Reform in Wales, and the group leader in the Senedd. I’ve known Helen for many, many years. A determined campaigner, and I think she will do a very good job.”
Ms Jenner 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 announcement comes after Reform’s previous leader, Dan Thomas, was arrested last week.
Gwent Police said that a 45-year-old man from Aberbargoed, in Caerphilly, has been bailed pending further enquiries.
Nigel Farage Makes ‘Big Announcement’ as New Reform UK Leader in Wales Revealed
Nigel Farage has made a significant announcement for Reform UK in Wales, unveiling Helen Jenner as the party’s new leader in the Senedd after the sudden departure of Dan Thomas.
Jenner, who previously served as Reform UK Wales’s deputy leader, was announced alongside Farage on the steps of the Senedd in Cardiff on Monday. Her appointment comes just days after Thomas stepped down following his arrest on suspicion of assault and controlling or coercive behaviour.
The leadership change represents an important moment for Reform in Wales, which made substantial gains at the Senedd election in May. It also comes at a particularly difficult time for the party’s Welsh group, following Thomas’s departure and the defection of another Reform member.
Farage sought to project continuity, describing the leadership crisis as a “bump in the road” and saying Reform would carry on with its work in the Welsh Parliament.
Helen Jenner takes charge
Helen Jenner is now the leader of Reform UK Wales and group leader in the Senedd.
She represents Bangor Conwy Môn in north Wales and entered the Senedd at the May 2026 election. Before becoming an elected politician, Jenner worked as a teacher for 15 years.
She was also previously involved with the Brexit Party and UKIP, linking her political background with Farage’s earlier political movements.
Jenner has served as Reform Wales’s deputy leader since April and had already taken on a more prominent role during the turmoil surrounding Thomas. She stood in for him at First Minister’s Questions shortly before his resignation.
A fluent Welsh speaker and mother of two, Jenner has roots in both north and south Wales. She was born in Neath and raised on Anglesey before attending university in Bangor.
Her appointment therefore gives Reform a leader with direct experience of Welsh politics and the Senedd rather than someone newly arriving in the institution.
The leadership contest was close
Although Farage presented Jenner’s appointment as the next stage for the party, the internal contest was not unanimous.
According to reporting by The Guardian, Reform’s 33 Senedd members held a vote between Jenner and Jason O’Connell. Jenner won by 17 votes to 15.
That narrow result has generated questions about the degree of unity within Reform’s Welsh parliamentary group.
Jenner, however, rejected suggestions that the contest had left the party divided. She said that both candidates had agreed in advance to support whoever won.
The new leader told the BBC that the group had gone through a difficult period but insisted that its members were united around what they wanted to achieve in Wales.
The result also means Jenner takes responsibility for a group that has become one of the most significant opposition forces in the Senedd.
Farage’s message
Farage appeared alongside Jenner in Cardiff and strongly backed her appointment.
He said he had known Jenner for many years, described her as a determined campaigner and said he trusted her to perform well in the role.
The Reform leader also addressed Thomas’s departure.
Farage said Thomas had been doing a “brilliant job” but acknowledged that continuing as Welsh leader had become difficult following the police investigation.
“It was pretty much untenable for him to continue as leader,” Farage said, according to ITV News. He added that he had spoken to Thomas at length and continued to believe in him.
Farage also said Reform would continue working with Thomas as he remains a member of the Senedd.
He described the events as something the party could have done without but said Reform was making the best of the situation.
The comments appeared designed to draw a line under the leadership change while maintaining the party’s wider political programme.
What happened to Dan Thomas?
Thomas became Reform UK Wales leader in February, only months before leaving the position.
He announced his resignation last week after it emerged that he had been arrested by Gwent Police.
Police said a 45-year-old man from the Aberbargoed area had been arrested on September 13 on suspicion of assault and engaging in controlling or coercive behaviour. He was subsequently released on bail pending further inquiries.
Thomas has denied wrongdoing.
In a statement announcing his decision to step down, he said he had been reported to police and released without charge. He stressed that he had done nothing wrong but did not want the controversy surrounding the investigation to distract from Reform’s work in the Senedd.
The allegations remain allegations and have not been established as fact.
Thomas continues to be a Member of the Senedd, while Reform has moved quickly to appoint a replacement leader.
Reform faces another challenge
The leadership change is not the only recent difficulty facing Reform in Wales.
Sarah Cooper-Lesadd, another Reform MS, defected to Plaid Cymru shortly after Thomas resigned. She said she believed Reform was experiencing internal problems and questioned whether it was prepared to govern Wales.
Her departure reduced Reform’s representation and added another complication for the party shortly after its strong performance at the May election.
The events have provided rival parties with an opportunity to question Reform’s internal organisation.
Welsh Labour said the party had already experienced the resignation of its leader and the departure of a member only months after the Senedd election. Labour argued that the developments raised questions about Reform’s stability and ability to provide political leadership.
Plaid Cymru also criticised Reform and contrasted its own approach with Farage’s party.
Reform has rejected the suggestion that its Welsh group is fundamentally divided.
A strong electoral breakthrough
The controversy comes against the backdrop of Reform’s major gains in Wales.
Following the May Senedd election, Reform became the second-largest party in the Welsh Parliament, giving it a much stronger institutional position than it had previously enjoyed.
That result transformed Reform from a relatively minor presence in Welsh politics into a major opposition force.
For Farage, maintaining that momentum will now depend partly on whether the party can establish a stable leadership structure in Cardiff Bay.
Jenner inherits that responsibility.
Her immediate task will be to organise the Senedd group, establish priorities and demonstrate that the party can concentrate on policy despite the disruption of the past two weeks.
A new deputy leader will also be chosen
Farage confirmed that the leadership change will not end with Jenner’s appointment.
A vote for a new deputy leader is scheduled, meaning Reform’s Welsh leadership team will undergo further changes.
The outcome could provide another indication of how the Senedd group intends to work together following the close leadership contest.
Jenner has said she wants members to have a greater say in shaping policy, another issue that could become important as Reform develops its role in the Welsh Parliament.
Her previous experience as deputy leader means she already knows the internal structure of the group, but becoming leader brings significantly greater responsibility.
Jenner’s priorities
In her first comments as leader, Jenner emphasised the mandate Reform received from Welsh voters.
She said voters had given the party a mandate to challenge the political establishment and promised that Reform would continue pursuing what she described as “real change” in Wales.
Her background in education may also influence her political focus.
Before entering the Senedd, Jenner spent 15 years working as a teacher. Since her election, she has served as Reform’s shadow cabinet minister for education and the Welsh language.
She therefore enters the leadership with a professional background closely connected to one of the major responsibilities of the Welsh Government.
Polling presents a more complicated picture
Reform’s strong Senedd election performance does not necessarily translate directly into support in every subsequent poll.
A YouGov poll for ITV Cymru Wales reported that Reform’s Westminster voting intention had fallen to 19%, down seven points from the previous May measurement. Labour was on 18%, while Plaid Cymru was on 27%.
The poll measured voting intention rather than the composition of the Senedd and should therefore not be treated as a direct forecast of future election results.
For Jenner, the figures underline the challenge of converting the party’s recent electoral breakthrough into sustained support.
Farage wants the party to move on
For now, Farage’s message is straightforward: Reform wants to move beyond the disruption.
His decision to announce Jenner personally outside the Senedd was intended to demonstrate that the party had quickly filled the leadership vacancy.
Jenner now has the task of proving that the transition can work in practice.
The new leader will have to manage a parliamentary group that has recently experienced a leadership resignation, a member defecting to another party and a closely fought internal contest.
At the same time, Reform remains the second-largest party in the Senedd and has an opportunity to shape debates on Welsh policy.
The next stage will therefore be less about the announcement itself and more about what Jenner does with the position.
Her immediate priorities will include building unity within the group, choosing a deputy leader, establishing Reform’s policy agenda and demonstrating that the party can operate effectively as a major opposition force.
For Farage, the leadership change is being presented as a temporary disruption rather than a change in direction.
For Jenner, it marks the beginning of a new political test.
And for Welsh politics, her appointment creates a new chapter for a party whose influence has grown rapidly but whose internal organisation is now under close scrutiny.