Farage is a threat to Labour in Wales - and the party has no strategy for dealing with him

Within hours of their landslide victory this summer, Labour MPs had already begun discussing how to counter the threat from Reform UK.

- Eleni Courea

Nigel Farage's party won five parliamentary constituencies and 14.3% of the vote. Keir Starmer's strategists see this resurgence of Faragism as arguably the party's biggest electoral challenge.

That threat has been made more acute by Donald Trump's victory this week. Buoyed by his ally's triumph, Farage has set his sights on a new UK target: the Senedd elections in the spring of 2026.

Reform has performed best in parts of northern England and southern Wales that have suffered under-investment and where there is disillusionment with the two main parties. Of the 98 seats where Farage's party came second in July, 60 were in the north of England and 13 were in Wales. This, combined with the fact that the elections use a more proportional voting system, means conditions are ripe for Reform to do well.