Reform candidate claims placard removed and culprit has been 'caught on camera'

James Evans, a former Tory Senedd member who defected to Reform at the beginning of the year, claims that attempts to interfere with his campaign are unacceptable

One of Reform’s most prominent figures in Wales has “caught on camera” someone removing one of the party’s placards from a fencepost. James Evans, who is the party’s lead candidate in the Brycheiniog Tawe Nedd constituency for May’s Senedd election, has urged the person to return the placard or he will send the footage to the police.

Mr Evans was elected as a Welsh Conservative MS for Brecon and Radnorshire in 2021, before being kicked out of the party at the beginning of this year when Tory leader Darren Millar claimed he had been “engaging with Reform”. Weeks later, Mr Evans appeared on stage with Reform leader Nigel Farage to confirm he had defected to the party.

Sharing a photo of a wooden post attached to a fence which appeared to have had the top snapped off to remove a sign, Mr Evans said trying to interfere with people’s freedom to campaign “is not acceptable”.

He said that the “individual who has been trespassing and removing Reform UK signs” has been “caught on camera”. For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here

Mr Evans asked for the signs to be returned to the places they were removed from by the end of the weekend for “no further action to be taken”.

If not, he said the footage will be sent to the police.

The full social media post from Mr Evans read: “Everyone is entitled to express their views in a democratic society, but interfering with others’ property and freedom to campaign is not acceptable.

“We ask that the signs are returned to the locations they were taken from by the end of the weekend. If they are returned, no further action will be taken.“If not, the footage will be passed to the police and the landowners will be pursuing the matter further.”

The post quickly garnered hundreds of comments, with many condemning the alleged actions and suggesting Mr Evans should report the matter to the police straight away. Others said they supported the actions.

One person said: “I personally don’t like the signs, however I fully respect anyone who does want to display them. Its purely about freedom of speech and it’s not affecting me in any way.”

At the Senedd election on May 7, 96 politicians will be elected to the newly-expanded Welsh Parliament. As well as expanding the Senedd, there will be a new voting system and also, new constituencies. There are 16 in total, covering every inch of Wales, and each has a Welsh place name.

Under the new electoral system six candidates will be elected from each of the new constituencies.

The Brycheiniog Tawe Nedd constituency combines the Westminster constituencies of Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe as well as Neath and Swansea East. It includes Brecon, Llandrindod Wells, Neath, Swansea (the east of the city) and Ystradgynlais.

Nominations for the May 7 election closed on Thursday, April 9. A full list of all the parties and candidates standing in the Brycheiniog Tawe Nedd constituencies is available on the Powys council website, here.

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