Nigel Farage dismissed the loss of Reform UK’s leader in Wales last week as a “bump in the road” as the party unveiled a replacement.
Helen Jenner replaces Dan Thomas, who stood down last Tuesday after he was arrested on suspicion of assault and controlling or coercive behaviours.
Jenner, who was previously the party’s deputy leader in Wales, narrowly beat her rival, Jason O’Connell, in a poll of its 33 Senedd members.
She joined Farage on the steps of the Senedd, where he said Reform would “carry on as if nothing has happened”.
Thomas announced last week that he was standing down after his arrest. He has been bailed and insists he has done nothing wrong.
The former Tory councillor, who remains a member of the Welsh parliament, was only announced as Reform’s Welsh leader in February.
Jenner is from Neath, near Port Talbot in south Wales, and represents Bangor Conwy Môn in the Senedd.
Farage said of Thomas: “I am sorry for his personal difficulties that he is going through. No one’s life is ever seamless and I am quite sure he will come out of these before too long.
“But it was pretty much untenable for him to continue as leader while he had these domestic disputes, so we very quickly and rapidly have moved to electing a new leader.”
Farage confirmed that a new deputy leader in Wales would be elected, and said: “We will carry on as if nothing has happened, waiting for Dan who is going to stay a member of this place, to come back more actively with us.
“We could have done without this bump in the road. But it has happened, we are making the best of it.”
Thomas issued a statement last Tuesday after intense speculation about his future, saying that he had been reported to the police the previous weekend and was released without charge.
“I stress that I have done nothing wrong, but I do not want the coming headlines to be a distraction from the fantastic work our Senedd team is doing in holding this government to account,” he said.
Gwent police said a 45-year-old man from the Aberbargoed area had been arrested on 13 September “on suspicion of assault and engaging in controlling/coercive behaviour. He has been bailed pending further inquiries”.
Thomas was perceived by some as having been parachuted in from Reform headquarters in London, which caused tensions, but Jenner is a Welsh speaker who has a track record of involvement with Farage’s parties and was elected to her new role by colleagues.
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She was a general election candidate for the Brexit party in 2019, and before that was a member of Ukip under Farage’s leadership.
She takes charge at a time when Reform is hoping to consolidate and build on its gains in Senedd elections earlier this year. It emerged as the second largest party, largely at the expense of the Conservatives and Labour.
She also takes charge after the party was rocked not only by the loss of Thomas but also the defection of another of its Senedd members, Sarah Cooper-Lesadd, to Plaid Cymru, which holds power.
Her departure sparked fury in Reform, with the party’s deputy leader, Richard Tice, accusing her of lying to them about her political beliefs.
Plaid Cymru said Cooper-Lesadd had been “honest about her political beliefs” and that her views had changed.
Cooper-Lesadd, who was elected to the Pen-y-bont Bro Morgannwg constituency, claimed that Reform UK was “far more interested in division, opposition and headlines than in finding solutions”.
Before Thomas took up the post, Nathan Gill, who briefly led Reform UK in Wales in 2021, was jailed for 10 and a half years in 2025 for taking bribes to make statements in favour of Russia when he was an MEP.
