The leaked exchange shows how much the party dislikes scrutiny – which reveals a lot about its approach to governing
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Will Hayward publishes a regular newsletter on Welsh politics and is the author of Independent Nation: Should Wales Leave the UK?
Last week saw one of the proudest moments of my journalism career. Leaked messages from a WhatsApp group containing several senior members of Reform UK in Wales seemed to suggest that the party’s director of communications called me a bad word in January this year. I won’t say the word, but it’s the bad one beginning with C.
Personally I don’t have any issue with being called that inside a private group. I would have considered it a stain on my professionalism if any political party’s comms chief had given me a glowing review. Mates of mine have actually suggested that it’s perhaps the most accurate thing to come out of Reform UK HQ. However, it is symbolic of behaviour from Reform in Wales that makes me far more concerned about what the party would be like in power, and which should worry voters both here in Cymru and in the wider UK. The first concern has to be its attitude to scrutiny.
Will Hayward is a Guardian columnist. He publishes a regular newsletter on Welsh politics and is the author of Independent Nation: Should Wales Leave the UK?
