Former London council leader Dan Thomas quits as leader of Reform UK in Wales after arrestFormer Barnet Council leader Dan Thomas denies any wrongdoing after he was arrested on suspicion of assault and controlling or coercive behaviour
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Matt Watts, News Editor1 minute ago
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Former London council leader Dan Thomas has quit as leader of Reform UK in Wales after he was arrested on suspicion of assault and controlling or coercive behaviour.
Mr Thomas, who ran Barnet Council from 2019 until 2022, was named the party’s Welsh leader in February and led Reform to become the second largest in the Senedd at an election in May.
In a statement released on Tuesday, he said he was standing down from his role leading the party in Wales for “personal reasons” but would continue as a member of the Senedd.
He said: “It has been the honour of my life to have been the leader of Reform Wales and see this party go from zero to 34 elected members and become the largest opposition group in Welsh history.
“With deep regret, I am now standing down from this position due to personal reasons.
“Over the weekend, I was reported to the police and was released without charge.
“I stress that I have done nothing wrong, but I do not want the coming headlines to be a distraction from the fantastic work our Senedd team is doing in holding this government to account.
“I will continue to serve my constituents in Casnewydd Islwyn and will fully back whoever the group selects as its next leader.”
Dan Thomas addresses delegates on the third day of the annual Reform UK party conference earlier this monthAFP/Getty
In a statement, Gwent Police said: “On Sunday 13 September a 45-year-old man, from the Aberbargoed area, was arrested on suspicion of assault and engaging in controlling/coercive behaviour. He has been bailed pending further enquiries.”
Reform is the largest opposition group in the Welsh Parliament.
The former Conservative councillor was born and grew up in the South Wales Valleys.
Thomas previously served as a Barnet councillor from 2006 to 2025, and was the Conservative leader of the London borough from 2019 to 2022.
He defected to Reform in June last year.
He later quit as a councillor for Finchley Church End after returning to his home country with his family.
Mr Thomas told a conference earlier this year that he had been “born and raised” in the Valleys before leaving for London to pursue a career in financial services.
Following the announcement of Mr Thomas’ resignation, Plaid Cymru said Sarah Cooper-Lesadd, who was elected as a Reform Member of the Senedd in May, had defected to join the governing party.
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In a statement issued by Plaid Cymru, she said: “Reform has no interest in the work I came here to do. They are not serious about governing Wales.
“They are far more interested in division, opposition and headlines than in finding solutions.
“There is a real appetite in the group to want the government to fail, and no interest in what that failure would mean for the people we represent.
“The party centrally has no interest in Wales,” she added.
“Their Senedd group is a staging post in the effort to get Nigel Farage into Downing Street, and that was glaringly obvious at its conference this week.”
Dan Thomas’s arrest and resignation is another blow to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK PA Wire
Asked whether she thought other Reform MSs were thinking about defecting, she told reporters: “All I would say it that there is a deep unhappiness in the group.
“I can’t comment on whether they are and I wouldn’t want to speak for them, but that’s what I would say.”
Reacting to Mr Thomas’ announcement, Ken Skates, leader of Welsh Labour, told the Press Association: “This is quite incredible news and many questions will need to be answered.
“Dan Thomas was a personal pick by Nigel Farage and this will surely demonstrate the appalling judgment of the Reform UK leader.”
Shadow Welsh Secretary Mims Davies said: “The dire state Reform in the Senedd finds itself in should be another warning of what could lie ahead if they were ever entrusted to run the national government. Dan Thomas MS was hand-picked by Nigel Farage MP to lead his party in Wales, yet within months their leader has had to stand down.
“Reform are hitting the news for all the wrong reasons – massive crypto donations, on top of the jailing of Nathan Gill for pro-Russian bribery. All this raises serious and deep questions about Reform’s judgment and leadership at every level.”
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