A former Reform politician who defected to Plaid Cymru had “lied” to the party about her real views, Richard Tice has claimed.
The Reform UK deputy leader accused Sarah Cooper-Lesadd of “deliberately misleading” the party and said it “doesn’t matter how much vetting you do” when someone “fibs to you”.
Ms Cooper-Lesadd was elected to the Senedd as a Reform MS just four months ago, but defected earlier this week after claiming the party was “far more interested in division, opposition and headlines than in finding solutions”.
In a statement, she criticised Reform UK as having “no interest in Wales” claiming the Senedd is seen by them as a “staging post in the effort to get Nigel Farage into Downing Street”.
Plaid Cymru told the BBC Ms Cooper-Lesadd had been “honest about her political beliefs” and that her views had changed since entering politics.
In an interview with the BBC, Mr Tice aid: “If someone deliberately misleads you, and fibs to you, and lies to you, then it doesn’t matter how much vetting you do.
“So, why don’t you ask her that question? How can you turn from being a unionist to a separatist?
“How can you turn from being someone who believes in defending our borders to want to open the borders and become a nation of sanctuary? The whole thing’s absurd,” he told BBC Radio Wales Sunday Supplement.
“I’m not in charge of vetting. Look, we make lots of brilliant, fast-moving decisions and judgements.
“That’s why we’ve grown to be the second-largest party in Wales so quickly from a standing start. We never claim that we’re perfect. You know, we’re real people.”
It comes after a challenging week for Reform in Wales after the party’s Welsh leader Dan Thomas resigned after being arrested on suspicion of assault.
Mr Tice declined to say whether deputy leader in Wales Helen Jenner would take over from Mr Thomas, but insisted the difficult week had not damaged the party.
He said: “Life is work in progress. But the bottom line is that we’ve got a group of 33 elected representatives, and they’re the second largest party by a considerable margin, and we’re raising issues that are absolutely vital to the residents of Wales.
“Life moves at different paces, and you have sometimes good days, you have sometimes bad days.
“The reality is that very shortly, we’ll have a new leader. But our representatives are getting on with the job of representing their constituents and raising issues they want raised.”
Ms Cooper-Lesadd and Plaid Cymru have been contacted for comment.
