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Reform breaks new ground west of the border in huge boost for Nigel Farage’s party as elections loom
Reform UK has won its first councillor on a Welsh council as the party looks to make gains in this year’s Senedd elections.
The by-election was called after the death of outspoken former councillor Mike Stoddart.
GB News has dissected the result and what it could mean for the major parties going forward into the Welsh Parliament election.
Milford Hakin (Pembrokeshire)
This week’s sole council by-election was held after the death of local journalist turned Councillor, Mike Stoddart.
The by-election made headlines after the Welsh Labour candidate, Nicola Harteveld, withdrew from the contest after her teenage son was verbally abused by two strangers.
Reform UK’s Scott Thorley won the by-election in the ward, with 179 votes, with Welsh Conservative Party Kelvin Taylor in second place on 144 votes.
Reform UK’s Scott Thorley came out on top
Samuel Warden from the Welsh Liberal Democrats was in fifth on 57 votes, with Ms Harteveld still attracting 27 votes for Welsh Labour despite her suspending all campaigning. Independent Derrick Abbott came in last on 11 votes.
A total of 661 votes were cast, with the turnout at 32.7 per cent.
Plaid Cymru did not field a candidate.
It was not the first time Mr Thorley had stood as a candidate for Nigel Farage’s party in Pembrokeshire.
Mr Thorley previously stood in the Prendergast Haverfordwest ward, which was won by Independent Alun Wills, with the Reform candidate finishing in fourth.
Speaking after his victory, Mr Thorley told The Tenby Observer: “It was a massive honour to win last night and I’m more than aware I’ve got some massive shoes to fill in Hakin.
Reform UK’s candidate in the Caerphilly by-election, Llyr Powell, said: “Voters want change, and Reform UK is ready to deliver it. Vote Reform. Get Reform.
The bulk of Pembrokeshire County Council is made up of independent councillors, with 34 out of the 60 elected not affiliated to any party.
Out of the 34, 19 sit together as the “Independent Group”.
There are 11 Welsh Conservative councillors, nine from Welsh Labour, three from Plaid Cymru and two Liberal Democrats.
Mr Thorley has become the first Reform UK councillor on the ward
Reform breaks new ground west of the border in huge boost for Nigel Farage’s party as elections loom
Reform UK has won its first councillor on a Welsh council as the party looks to make gains in this year’s Senedd elections.
The by-election was called after the death of outspoken former councillor Mike Stoddart.
GB News has dissected the result and what it could mean for the major parties going forward into the Welsh Parliament election.
Milford Hakin (Pembrokeshire)
This week’s sole council by-election was held after the death of local journalist turned Councillor, Mike Stoddart.
The by-election made headlines after the Welsh Labour candidate, Nicola Harteveld, withdrew from the contest after her teenage son was verbally abused by two strangers.
Reform UK’s Scott Thorley won the by-election in the ward, with 179 votes, with Welsh Conservative Party Kelvin Taylor in second place on 144 votes.
Reform UK’s Scott Thorley came out on top
Samuel Warden from the Welsh Liberal Democrats was in fifth on 57 votes, with Ms Harteveld still attracting 27 votes for Welsh Labour despite her suspending all campaigning. Independent Derrick Abbott came in last on 11 votes.
A total of 661 votes were cast, with the turnout at 32.7 per cent.
Plaid Cymru did not field a candidate.
It was not the first time Mr Thorley had stood as a candidate for Nigel Farage’s party in Pembrokeshire.
Mr Thorley previously stood in the Prendergast Haverfordwest ward, which was won by Independent Alun Wills, with the Reform candidate finishing in fourth.
Speaking after his victory, Mr Thorley told The Tenby Observer: “It was a massive honour to win last night and I’m more than aware I’ve got some massive shoes to fill in Hakin.
Reform UK’s candidate in the Caerphilly by-election, Llyr Powell, said: “Voters want change, and Reform UK is ready to deliver it. Vote Reform. Get Reform.
The bulk of Pembrokeshire County Council is made up of independent councillors, with 34 out of the 60 elected not affiliated to any party.
Out of the 34, 19 sit together as the “Independent Group”.
There are 11 Welsh Conservative councillors, nine from Welsh Labour, three from Plaid Cymru and two Liberal Democrats.
Mr Thorley has become the first Reform UK councillor on the ward
Reform breaks new ground west of the border in huge boost for Nigel Farage’s party as elections loom
Reform UK has won its first councillor on a Welsh council as the party looks to make gains in this year’s Senedd elections.
The by-election was called after the death of outspoken former councillor Mike Stoddart.
GB News has dissected the result and what it could mean for the major parties going forward into the Welsh Parliament election.
Milford Hakin (Pembrokeshire)
This week’s sole council by-election was held after the death of local journalist turned Councillor, Mike Stoddart.
The by-election made headlines after the Welsh Labour candidate, Nicola Harteveld, withdrew from the contest after her teenage son was verbally abused by two strangers.
Reform UK’s Scott Thorley won the by-election in the ward, with 179 votes, with Welsh Conservative Party Kelvin Taylor in second place on 144 votes.
Reform UK’s Scott Thorley came out on top
Samuel Warden from the Welsh Liberal Democrats was in fifth on 57 votes, with Ms Harteveld still attracting 27 votes for Welsh Labour despite her suspending all campaigning. Independent Derrick Abbott came in last on 11 votes.
A total of 661 votes were cast, with the turnout at 32.7 per cent.
Plaid Cymru did not field a candidate.
It was not the first time Mr Thorley had stood as a candidate for Nigel Farage’s party in Pembrokeshire.
Mr Thorley previously stood in the Prendergast Haverfordwest ward, which was won by Independent Alun Wills, with the Reform candidate finishing in fourth.
Speaking after his victory, Mr Thorley told The Tenby Observer: “It was a massive honour to win last night and I’m more than aware I’ve got some massive shoes to fill in Hakin.
Reform UK’s candidate in the Caerphilly by-election, Llyr Powell, said: “Voters want change, and Reform UK is ready to deliver it. Vote Reform. Get Reform.
The bulk of Pembrokeshire County Council is made up of independent councillors, with 34 out of the 60 elected not affiliated to any party.
Out of the 34, 19 sit together as the “Independent Group”.
There are 11 Welsh Conservative councillors, nine from Welsh Labour, three from Plaid Cymru and two Liberal Democrats.
Mr Thorley has become the first Reform UK councillor on the ward
Andy Burnham warning as UK households warned of ‘new £10bn tax’
The new prime minister has been urged to steer clear of a policy that some suggest could have negative consequences
Andy Burnham became prime minister on Monday (Image: Getty)
Andy Burnham has been warned that he must quash talk of a potential wealth tax. Speaking about the levy in an interview with Gary Lineker before he officially took office, the new prime minister said: “I’m not going to rule things out right now. I do believe we need a greater sense of fairness and people feeling that things are being done in the right way and a fair way. But at the same time, you know, I don’t want to sort of be perceived as somebody who’s coming in with grudges and agendas and, you know, going to just immediately find or demonise one group or create a new way of dividing people.”
The CEO of financial advice firm deVere Group, Nigel Green, said that a wealth tax would cause rich people to leave the UK. He said: “A wealth tax that has not been proposed is already doing damage. Money does not sit around waiting for legislation.
“It moves the moment a Government signals it is willing to go there, and Mr Burnham just signalled it.
“He needs to put this to rest today, not let it hang over Britain for months while capital quietly heads for the door.”
It is thought that a levy on the super-rich could raise £10billion.
This would be through a 2% minimum charge on households with more than £100million in wealth, a study by Gabriel Zucman, a professor of economics at the Paris School of Economics, and Ben Tippet, a lecturer in economics and wealth inequality at King’s College London, suggested.
Mr Green added that the UAE, Switzerland and Italy have “positioned themselves as beneficiaries of Britain’s loss, actively courting the capital and talent that London once took for granted”.
He said: “Wealth is mobile in a way wages are not, and every government that has taxed it hard has ended up chasing capital that has already gone.”
Mr Green fears every week this speculation continues is a week that competition swings further away from Britain.
A wealth tax, the expert added, “reads well on a policy paper and collapses on contact with reality”.
Mr Green said: “Tax accumulated assets and the people holding them start planning their exit immediately. What follows is not new revenue for the Treasury. It’s a shrinking base of investment, jobs and philanthropy, all disproportionately reliant on the very people this tax would target.”