Reform UK launchedits Senedd election manifesto in Wales with party leader Nigel Farage saying the vote on 7 May is a "referendum" on Sir Keir Starmer's leadership as prime minister.

Farage also criticised the UK government's response to the conflict in the Middle East, saying Britain has been "humiliated on the global stage".

Reform's Welsh leader Dan Thomas referred to his party as the "new people's army" as he laid out their pledges, which includes scrapping the 20mph speed limit, capping council tax and building an M4 relief road.

It also promises to reduce NHS waiting lists as they try to "fix the current broken system". But the manifesto states that the party is committed to a Welsh health service that is free at the point of use.

A heckler was ejected from the event as Farage spoke leading to a chorus of boos from the crowd. That didn't stop him getting a jibe in, however, as he mocked the heckler for "not having a job".

We have come to the end of our live coverage but you can read more about today's events here.

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The pitch to businessespublished at 13:37 GMT 5 March

13:37 GMT 5 March

Huw Thomas
Wales business correspondent

Reform UK’s pitch to Welsh businesses is built around a promise to lower costs and sweep away what it frames as years of over-regulation.

A fundamental overhaul of business rates chimes with the frequent calls for a review of the tax facing firms in Wales and Reform is not unique in promising change.

Planning is another area that’s often cited as a barrier to economic growth in Wales.

While Reform pledges to quicken the pace around planning decisions, there are plenty of cynical voices in property development who have lived through previous attempts to streamline the system.

Procurement policies that encourage spending on local firms could be an easy win on paper, but may be more tricky to enact without restricting choice and competition.

And while scrapping the tourism tax is being framed by them as a boost for Wales’s tourist economy, BBC Wales found Cardiff was the only local authority that’s actively working to introduce a levy on overnight accommodation and city officials claim to have industry support for the move.

Ban on onshore windfarmspublished at 13:30 GMT 5 March

13:30 GMT 5 March

Steffan Messenger
Wales environment correspondent

Reform says in its manifesto it wants to ban more onshore wind farms, claiming Wales has reached "saturation point".

Instead it pledges to be "an active enabler of nuclear development" and says there will be "a long future" for gas.

Funding for heat pumps "will be terminated" and the party says it will "oppose any ban on fireplaces, LPG boilers or other heating systems that rural households rely on".

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Some more from Nigel Farage's remarks on stage that Britain has been "humiliated" over the UK government's response to the conflict in the Middle East.

Farage described Sir Keir Starmer as "incapable of making a decision" and a "follower" rather than a leader.

On Wednesday, the prime minister defended the UK government's approach not to allow the use of UK bases in the initial US-Israel strikes.

"What was for centuries the greatest naval nation on Earth is now unable to defend British sovereign territory," Farage said, referencing an Iranian-made drone attack on the British base RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus.

Farage said Britain's reputation on the world stage is "going down the drain" and sooner the Labour government is out of office, "the better it will be for everyone."

Asylum Hotels: What's happening in Wales?published at 13:14 GMT 5 March

13:14 GMT 5 March

George Herd, BBC Wales

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Welsh leader Dan Thomas said Reform would change the law if necessary to stop planning permission for migrant hotels - one of the party's core manifesto pledges.

The Welsh government has no say on contracts awarded for hotels to host asylum seekers in Wales.

The Home Office is entirely responsible for establishing and funding any hotel accommodation.

However, UK government ministers have said they intend ending the use of all hotels by 2029, including in a pledge in last year's spending review by Chancellor Rachel Reeves, external.

In Wales, according to latest Home Office figures, external, at the end of December 2025, there were 74 individual asylum seekers being housed in hotels in Wales - all in Cardiff.

No other asylum hotel contingency accommodation is currently listed in the latest Home Office figures.

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Reaction from Plaid Cymru now, which claims Reform's manifesto is "near-on impossible" to distinguish from policy offerings from the Welsh Conservatives.

Plaid says it would be a "disaster" for Wales if Reform came to power.

"In this election, our nation faces a stark choice: real plans to improve public services with Plaid Cymru, or empty promises and chaos with Reform," Plaid's statement adds.

Most of the money earmarked for Wales' 'Nation of Sanctuary' policy has gone to help Ukrainian refugees.

Reform says it will scrap the policy, but Nigel Farage said on stage that "the Ukrainian situation is different. They are genuine refugees."

"The Ukrainians will have a scheme. They will be looked after."

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Speaking to BBC Wales after stepping off stage, Nigel Farage says Reform would make the M4 relief road it has proposed a toll road, should it get into power.

He describes the M4 as "a bit of a disaster".

He says his Welsh leader Dan Thomas wanted to "get private capital in, make it a toll road, and give the people the option of doing it".

"Not much of the expenditure here would have to come from taxes," he says.

Nigel Farage said on stage that there will be a "published list of costings" for the manifesto.

He said he was going through it with Welsh leader Dan Thomas before he went on.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) is looking at it as well, he told the room. "They are looking at our homework and will mark it out of 10."

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Anthony Slaughter, party leader of the Wales Green Party, says Reform are offering nothing but "re-heated Tory policies with added prejudice".

He says the "extreme" plans to cut taxes for the richest would "devastate" Welsh public services.

"They aren’t interested in making people’s lives better, only winning seats as a pit stop for putting Nigel Farage in Downing Street," he adds.

A lot of noise wherever Farage goespublished at 12:50 GMT 5 March

12:50 GMT 5 March

Hywel Griffith
Wales correspondent

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The latest polls suggest Plaid Cymru is in the lead in the election race, followed by Reform.

Labour - the party in power in Wales for over a quarter of a century - lags some way behind in third.

It gives you a sense of how Reform have grown in popularity and that is in part down to Nigel Farage.

Every time he is in Wales we see a crowd that is largely supportive - although one heckler was ejected after interrupting today's event.

What is clear is that there is a lot of noise wherever Nigel Farage goes.

'A Tory manifesto in Reform clothing', says Labourpublished at 12:46 GMT 5 March

12:46 GMT 5 March

Reaction from other political parties in Wales are starting to come in.

Welsh Labour calls it a "Tory manifesto in Reform clothing", saying it includes unfunded promises and no commitment to keep the NHS out of "private profiteering hands".

It also takes aim at Plaid Cymru, saying both Plaid and Reform "will not be honest" about how they will pay for their "wish lists".

“Welsh Labour is the only party serious about delivering fairness you feel," Labour adds.

Promise to cap council tax increasepublished at 12:44 GMT 5 March

12:44 GMT 5 March

Felicity Evans
Wales money editor

We heard that Reform is promising to cap council tax increase at just under 5%.

Welsh leader Dan Thomas - who has previously run a big council in London and says he has experience of cutting bills whilst delivering services - warned councils that if they treated that cap as “a target”, he would reduce the cap further.

Council tax is one of the biggest bills households face and many struggle with it given the cost of living pressures of the last few years.

But the Welsh Local Government Association, which represents Welsh councils, has previously expressed concern about budget pressures, especially around rising demand for their legally binding spending commitments like adult and child social care.

Farage's claim steel site will 'never' open is disputedpublished at 12:42 GMT 5 March

12:42 GMT 5 March

Huw Thomas
Wales business correspondent

Without providing any evidence to back the claim, Nigel Farage told the press conference that a new electric arc furnace for producing steel in Port Talbot will "never" open for business.

He said it was a "disaster" to turn off the previous two blast furnaces in 2024.

Referring to the new furnace, which is currently under construction, Farage said: "With our electricity prices, I guarantee you it will never, ever be turned on".

This is disputed by those involved with the project.

I visited the construction site a few months ago and Tata Steel has consistently said it plans to get the furnace operating towards the end of 2027.

In its sustainability report - published this morning - Tata Steel said it had "moved forward at incredible pace" with its plans for the electric arc furnace.

Key takeaways from the launchpublished at 12:39 GMT 5 March

12:39 GMT 5 March

Hywel Griffith
Wales Correspondent

Reform says it has five core pledges and at the top of the list is something that would make life cheaper for people in Wales.

It has promised to knock 1p off every pound of income tax. The same policy as the Welsh Conservatives on Tuesday.

The two parties have lots in common – Reform's only two Senedd member are former Tories.

The other key pledges are to scrap what they call the blanket 20mph speed limit.

Reforms also says it wants to "put Welsh people first". This means putting them first in line for social housing, although it is unclear how that will work.

Immigration as ever is a hot topic and Reform says it will scrap the Nation of Sanctuary policy in Wales.

'Reform can end Labour dominance'published at 12:35 GMT 5 March

12:35 GMT 5 March

Gareth Lewis
Wales political editor

Nigel Farage whipped up the audience from the off, telling them that if Reform "gets it right" then Wales could end Keir Starmer's tenure as prime minister.

He also said Reform can end Labour dominance in Wales, particularly in the south Wales valleys.

Which goal is bigger?

Is it to land the fatal blow on a prime minister under pressure at Westminster, or to run the Welsh government after May’s Senedd election?

David Deans
Wales politics reporter

This is the second Reform event in Wales that has mixed a press conference with a rally.

What that meant was that the assorted crowd of members were able to "interact" with some of the questions - sometimes booing and heckling what was being asked.

Not all the media got that treatment, but members of the Welsh press did.

There was not much challenge from the stage to what was going on, although Farage did say to give our own political editor a chance after someone said his organisation should be defunded.

Reform's press conference has come to an end.

We heard from both the leader of Reform UK Nigel Farage and party's Welsh leader Dan Thomas.

Stay with us now for more reaction to what we've heard from the Senedd election manifesto launch.

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Reuters asks a question about whether the party would prefer to come second in the Senedd election - building the party's support but without having to govern.

Thomas rejects that outright.

"Wales needs Reform to win and be in government," he says.

Why were the pledges made to restart steel manufacture made in Port Talbot not in the manifesto?

Farage says he was not "suggesting a mass reopening of pits" in Wales at the event.

He says the closure of blast furnaces at Port Talbot was a "disaster" but the devolved Welsh government does not have the "muscle and power" to get them back on.

“I would suggest that it is something we need to have a national conversation about," Farage says.

“Security of supply of key industrial materials… are going to become the politics of the future.

"Right at the moment the UK is in a pitifully weak place."

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