'We'll throw everything' at by-election, says Farage

Nigel Farage called Llŷr Powell a "good, hard working, loyal, solid, decent bloke"

Reform UK's leader has unveiled the party's candidate for next month's Senedd by-election in Caerphilly as the man recently handling its communications in Wales.

Announcing that Llŷr Powell will run to be the first Senedd member elected as Reform, Nigel Farage pledged to "throw everything" at the campaign.

"We intend to win this by-election," Farage said, at a slick launch event at Caerphilly Social Club. Powell pledged to "stand up" for Caerphilly communities and offer a "chance at genuine change".

Labour called Reform a "party of fear and division", while Plaid Cymru accused it of promoting a "Trump-backing, anti-Wales agenda".

The Conservatives said it had "no plan or policies" for Caerphilly or Wales.

The poll, on 23 October, was prompted by the sudden death of the Labour Senedd member Hefin David in August.

If successful Powell would join Reform's Laura Anne Jones in Cardiff Bay.

She defected from the Conservatives in July.

Powell has also previously stood for the Conservatives, in Grangetown in Cardiff in the 2022 council elections, but was not elected.

Caerphilly-based children's publisher and financial analyst Richard Tunnicliffe is standing for Labour, Plaid Cymru has selected former Caerphilly council leader Lindsay Whittle and the ex-charity and retail worker Gareth Potter has been chosen by the Conservatives.

In his speech on Friday, Farage said Powell "has been known to me for many, many years" and was a "good, hard working, loyal, solid, decent bloke".

Looking ahead to next year's Senedd election, with polls suggesting Reform has a chance of becoming the largest party, Farage said: "We have every chance next May of doing something quite spectacular in Wales".

"You will be seeing an awful lot of me between now and next May."

Taking questions from journalists, Farage distanced himself from comments by Laura Anne Jones in which she said the party was not ruling out scrapping the Welsh Parliament.

"Our aim and our ambition is to win those elections next May, and to make devolution work," he stressed.

"You will not hear a word from me about abolishing the assembly [or] about getting rid of the Senedd."

Interviewed later, Farage responded for the first time to an unpublished report by the Senedd standards commissioner, obtained by the BBC this week, which says Jones brought the Welsh Parliament into disrepute when she used a racial slur about Chinese people in a WhatsApp chat.

Farage told BBC Wales political editor Gareth Lewis: "She used a word that 20 years ago was common parlance and was never used in a derogatory sense either.

"In an age of rampant anti-Semitism throughout our country it's small beer by comparison.

"Would I act if she did it again? Yes."

Asked if he thought the use of the word was acceptable today, Farage said: "I said it was 20 years ago, it's not now."

Reform described Llŷr Powell as a communications specialist

Reform said Powell had lived and worked in Caerphilly for the last five years and "called the area home for much of his professional life".

The party described him as a fluent Welsh speaker and "communications specialist" who had worked in public, political and charitable organisations.

Paying tribute to Hefin David, Powell called him an "excellent Senedd member who was never tribal, committed to his community and made a real difference in education".

"The local communities in Caerphilly deserve a Senedd member who will stand up for them after over 26 years of stagnation from Labour and Plaid," he said.

"Only Reform UK is offering a chance at genuine change."

But a Plaid Cymru spokesperson accused Reform of promoting a "Trump-backing, anti-Wales agenda" that was "about erasing who we are, not standing up" for Caerphilly or Wales.

"If you want to stop Reform's agenda and put the interests of Caerphilly first, vote Plaid Cymru," they added.

A Welsh Labour spokesperson described Reform as a "party of fear and division".

"They've shown they don't care about Wales or our communities with their fantasy politics of reopening the mines. They're just the Tories in teal ties," they said, adding they were proud of Mr David's legacy in the constituency.

A Welsh Conservative spokesperson said: "Once again Nigel Farage and Reform have made it clear that they have no plan or policies for Caerphilly or for Wales.

"Unlike Reform, the Welsh Conservatives will deliver for the people of Caerphilly and Wales by reducing the tax burden on local people and businesses, increasing access to healthcare and improving educational outcomes."