Reform Wales
“Wales does not lack talent or ambition. What it has lacked is effective leadership and the courage to do things differently.”
Anti-establishment populists — tax cuts, road-building, hard line on immigration.
- Cut 1p off every band of Welsh income tax
- Scrap blanket 20mph limits and build the M4 relief road
- End the 'Nation of Sanctuary' and prioritise Welsh-born for housing
- Voters frustrated with both Labour and the Conservatives
- Rural and post-industrial communities feeling left behind
- People who think Welsh net-zero policy has gone too far, too fast
Polling first or close second across Wales. But this is their first major Welsh election — they have no Senedd track record.
From Dan Thomas
Dan Thomas frames the manifesto as a rejection of over a century of Labour and Conservative failure in Wales, arguing that falling school standards, NHS crisis, and rising costs of living are the result of political failure rather than inevitability. Reform positions itself as the party of common sense renewal, promising to raise standards, put patients first, and lower costs by rewarding work and cutting waste. The foreword explicitly contrasts Reform's results-focused approach against what it characterises as Labour's preference for strategies over action.
How they speak
Wales is presented as a proud nation of hard-working communities that has been systematically failed for over a century by Labour, latterly propped up by Plaid Cymru, resulting in crumbling schools and hospitals, a rising cost of living, and communities left behind.
The manifesto frames the election as a historic opportunity to break with one-party dominance and choose a new direction led by Reform, the only party willing to prioritise Welsh people, cut waste, and govern with common sense rather than ideology.
What they say is most important.
- 01
Cut 1p off every pound on all bands of Welsh income tax by the end of the Senedd term to put more money into your pocket.
- 02
Scrap blanket 20mph limits and restore evidence-led speed limits to Welsh roads.
- 03
End the so-called 'Nation of Sanctuary' policy, stop migrant hotels in communities, and prioritise Welsh people for social housing.
- 04
Build the M4 relief road, upgrade the A55 North Wales expressway, and fast-track A470 upgrades.
- 05
Reform the Sustainable Farming Scheme to let farmers farm and protect the rural way of life.
Positions other parties haven't matched.
A 1p income tax cut across all bands of Welsh income tax by the end of the Senedd term — the only party proposing an outright reduction in Welsh rates rather than a freeze or increase.
A complete ban on new onshore wind farms and large solar farms on productive land, combined with abolition of devolved Net Zero targets — the most explicit rollback of climate policy of any major Welsh party.
Abolition of Natural Resources Wales and return of its strategic functions to direct ministerial control — a structural dismantling of environmental governance with no equivalent in other parties' manifestos.
A mandatory 10-year Welsh residency requirement for social housing, framed explicitly as putting Welsh citizens first — a policy no other Welsh party has proposed.
Outright ending of the Nation of Sanctuary policy and prohibition of any local equivalents — a direct reversal of Welsh Government immigration policy rather than a modification of it.
Facilitation of academies and free schools through a pilot scheme — the only party proposing English-style school structures for Wales, representing a structural divergence from the Welsh education consensus.
A Welsh-specific grooming gangs public inquiry, premised on the view that the national inquiry is insufficiently attentive to Welsh-specific dimensions and the cultural and ethnic profile of offenders.
The full pledge breakdown
Economy & Jobs
Reform Wales prioritises tax cuts, deregulation, and private-sector growth, proposing a 1p income tax cut across all bands, a root-and-branch review of business rates, and a Welsh industrial strategy led by a dedicated Minister for Industry. The party aims to reduce quango bureaucracy, cut civil service headcount, and encourage local procurement.
12 pledges
Cut 1p off all bands of Welsh income tax
Reform will cut 1p off every pound across all rates of Welsh income tax by the end of the Senedd term, funded through reductions in expenditure elsewhere without cuts to frontline services.
Introduce a tax lock against new Welsh levies
Reform will not introduce any new Welsh-controlled tax or levy beyond those set out in this manifesto and approved by voters.
Introduce referendums for council tax rises above 4.99%
Where councils propose council tax increases above 4.99%, residents will have the right to approve or reject them through a local referendum, in line with the position in England.
End the quango carousel through review and abolition
All quangos will be reviewed, with those having duplicate or unnecessary functions merged or abolished. Automatic expiry dates will be introduced for all public bodies, and serial appointments and lengthy tenures will be ended.
Health & Care
Reform Wales commits to keeping the NHS free at the point of use while fundamentally restructuring its governance, cutting waiting lists through rapid diagnostic centres and surgical hubs, modernising digital infrastructure, and reasserting ministerial authority over health boards. The party also proposes sex-based policy changes, new men's and women's health frameworks, and a ten-year cancer survival strategy.
18 pledges
Launch emergency action plan to cut waiting lists
A comprehensive emergency action plan will target planned care capacity, including rapid diagnostic centres to tackle diagnostic backlogs, expanded surgical hubs, high-volume elective centres, and prioritised hospital bed capacity. Cross-border treatment will be used where appropriate.
Eliminate routine corridor care by end of Senedd term
National patient flow standards will be set, discharge planning integrated, and step-down and intermediate care capacity addressed to free acute beds. By the end of the four-year term, corridor care will be classified as a reportable safety incident.
Deliver a national electronic patient record system
A national electronic patient record system will be delivered to reduce duplication, improve safety, and enable modern pathways, alongside standardised IT systems across health boards with interoperability and cyber security built in. The NHS Wales App will be modernised.
Audit and tackle hospital maintenance backlog with multi-year capital programme
The maintenance backlog will be audited and high-risk safety repairs prioritised. A multi-year capital programme will modernise wards, upgrade theatres and critical care facilities, and improve energy efficiency.
Education & Skills
Reform Wales proposes to reform the Curriculum for Wales to restore focus on core academic subjects, reintroduce school league tables, restore classroom discipline including a phone ban, facilitate academies and free schools, and expand technical and vocational education. The party is also critical of what it describes as ideological content in schools and WJEC's de facto monopoly on qualifications.
14 pledges
Reform Curriculum for Wales to focus on core subjects
The Curriculum for Wales will be amended to focus on core subjects including maths and science, restore phonics-based reading instruction, remove what the party characterises as ideological content from lessons, and increase focus on physical education.
End WJEC's de facto monopoly and improve exam board choice
The de facto monopoly of the Welsh Joint Education Committee will be ended by improving exam board choice, including through curriculum changes that reduce the volume of non-examination assessments which have created workload and consistency concerns.
Restore classroom discipline with zero tolerance approach and phone ban
Clear behaviour standards will be enforced, teachers empowered to manage classrooms, and a zero-tolerance approach to violence and abusive behaviour taken. Mobile phones will be banned in schools.
Reintroduce school league tables for visible performance accountability
League tables will be reintroduced so school performance is visible, comparable, and accountable to parents and communities.
Housing
Reform Wales focuses on accelerating housing supply through streamlined planning, firm decision deadlines, and development presumptions, while letting Welsh Help to Buy expire and replacing it with targeted incentives. The party also proposes a 10-year residency requirement for social housing and prioritisation of veterans, and opposes sustainability regulations it argues add costs without safety benefit.
8 pledges
Speed up planning and intervene where councils fail to deliver homes
A Reform Welsh Government will speed up planning and intervene where councils fail to deliver the homes their communities need. Most Welsh councils do not currently operate a Community Infrastructure Levy, which Reform argues forfeits strategic funding that should support growth.
Mandate strict 10-year residency requirement for social housing
Local authorities will be mandated to enforce a strict 10-year residency requirement for social housing to put Welsh citizens at the front of the queue. The requirement would be waived for Armed Forces veterans, domestic abuse survivors, and care leavers under 25.
Let Welsh Help to Buy expire and replace with targeted incentives
Welsh Help to Buy, due to expire in September 2026, will not be extended, as Reform argues it is ineffective with the threshold set too low for most new-build homes. It will be replaced with targeted incentives while addressing underlying supply issues.
Amend Planning Policy Wales to impose clear time limits and limit repeat consultations
Planning Policy Wales and relevant legislation will be amended to impose clear time limits, limit repeat consultations, and expedite decisions so that compliant schemes proceed without unnecessary delay.
Transport
Reform Wales frames transport policy as serving the real-world economy rather than ideology, prioritising road investment including the M4 relief road and A55 upgrades, scrapping the blanket 20mph policy, banning pay-per-mile schemes, and increasing rail capacity. The party is also committed to reviewing Cardiff Airport's viability as a Welsh Government asset.
8 pledges
Abolish the default 20mph policy in urban areas
The blanket 20mph policy in urban areas will be abolished. Appropriate speed limits will be at the discretion of local authorities where genuinely needed, such as outside schools and hospitals and in clearly defined residential streets.
Prohibit councils from introducing pay-per-mile road charging schemes
Councils will be stripped of the power to introduce road charging schemes, protecting drivers from what Reform characterises as an anti-motorist agenda. The policy is framed as a response to Cardiff council considering a Road User Payment scheme.
Build the M4 relief road seeking private or sovereign wealth fund financing
The M4 relief road will be built, with Reform seeking private funding or, as a national economic priority, funding from a Reform-instituted British Sovereign Wealth Fund as part of a wider commitment to developing a Severnside economic zone.
Upgrade the A55 North Wales expressway with safety and resilience works
Safety upgrades including widening where appropriate, junction upgrades, and targeted resilience measures will be delivered on the A55, which Reform describes as the main artery of the North Wales economy.
Climate & Environment
Reform Wales proposes scrapping devolved Net Zero targets, banning new onshore wind farms and large solar farms on productive agricultural land, abolishing Natural Resources Wales, and replacing ideological energy policy with a focus on affordability, reliability, and domestic energy security. The party supports nuclear power at Wylfa and Trawsfynydd and opposes bans on off-grid heating systems.
13 pledges
Ban new onshore wind farms and large solar farms on productive land
New onshore wind farms will be banned and ministerial call-in powers used to end solar farms on significant areas of productive arable land that undermine food security. New power lines should be underground where possible.
Abolish devolved Net Zero targets and slash reporting requirements
The 2030 and 2040 devolved Net Zero targets will be abolished and reporting requirements slashed to the bare legal minimum. Net Zero-based local strategies that raise costs without measurable benefit will be ended, and the Environment (Wales) Act 2016 will be amended.
Remove ideology from Welsh Government energy subsidies and end heat pump funding
Energy efficiency and fuel poverty subsidies such as Nest will be focused exclusively on those on lowest incomes. Funding for low-carbon industrial heat networks will be scaled back and heat pump funding terminated.
Abolish Natural Resources Wales and restructure its functions
Natural Resources Wales will be dismantled and fundamentally restructured. Strategic policy functions will be returned to direct ministerial oversight, while operational and regulatory functions including flood defence, forestry, and environmental protection will be separated and streamlined.
Farming & Rural
Reform Wales commits to progressively replacing the Sustainable Farming Scheme with a reconfigured system offering greater farmer choice, a voluntary environmental scheme, and increased livestock production payments. A ten-year Welsh food strategy will be developed with farmers as partners, with a focus on food security and reducing regulatory burden.
12 pledges
Reform and progressively replace the Sustainable Farming Scheme
The current SFS will be progressively ended and replaced with a reconfigured system offering increased choice for farmers, increased livestock production payments, and a voluntary environmental scheme. Duplicative requirements and paperwork will be removed, and there will be no unfair retrospective deductions.
Develop a ten-year Welsh food strategy with farmers and farming unions
A ten-year Welsh food strategy will be developed directly with farmers and farming unions, underpinned by legislation and focused on food security, productivity, farm-to-fork supply chains, export growth, and sustainable domestic supply including production baselines for beef, lamb, and dairy.
Transition Hybu Cig Cymru into a farmer-owned, levy-payer-led organisation
HCC will be transitioned into a farmer-owned, levy-payer-led body with directly elected levy payer representation, published expenditure reporting, and ring-fenced funding for export promotion and domestic marketing of Welsh lamb and beef.
Launch general review of agricultural red tape and streamline inspections
A general review of agricultural regulation will be launched, streamlining inspections and consulting with farmers on what constitutes proportionate regulation. Enforcement will be proportionate, risk-based, and focused on genuine risks rather than paperwork compliance.
Crime & Justice
Reform Wales proposes a Welsh-specific public inquiry into grooming gangs, launch of measures to restore election integrity, and a commitment to make government policy based on biological sex in relevant justice and safeguarding contexts.
2 pledges
Convene a Welsh-specific public inquiry into grooming gangs
A Welsh-specific public inquiry into child sexual abuse by organised gangs will be convened to report within the shortest possible timeframe, on the basis that the existing national inquiry is considered insufficient in addressing Welsh-specific aspects and the religious, cultural and ethnic dimensions of offending.
Restore election integrity by removing foreign citizens' voting rights in Senedd elections
The current right of qualifying foreign citizens to vote in Senedd elections will be removed. Government-funded election communications will be required to be in English and Welsh only.
Cymraeg & Culture
Reform Wales supports bilingualism and equal status for Welsh and English, but proposes replacing arbitrary numerical targets for Welsh speakers with what it describes as evidence-led and voluntary promotion. The party commits to maintaining funding for key cultural institutions including the Eisteddfod and Royal Welsh Show, and positions Wales as a major events destination.
7 pledges
Replace arbitrary Welsh speaker targets with evidence-led voluntary promotion
Arbitrary numerical targets for Welsh language uptake will be replaced with a focus on high-quality teaching, voluntary uptake, and creating conditions in which Welsh is chosen and used naturally, while maintaining clear and realistic growth ambitions.
Restore chronological and evidence-led history in publicly funded heritage
Publicly funded museums, heritage bodies, and interpretation sites will be required to present history chronologically and in context, with clarity about cause and consequence.
Support modernisation of museums and cultural institutions for wider access
Wales's museums and cultural institutions will be supported with modernisation, wider access, and financial sustainability, ensuring that publicly funded institutions reflect the full breadth of Welsh history and culture.
Ring-fence Welsh cultural spending including Eisteddfod and Royal Welsh Show
Support for the Royal National Eisteddfod and Royal Welsh Show will be maintained and the Westminster Government will be pressed to continue funding for S4C.
Devolution & the Union
Reform Wales focuses on restoring ministerial accountability over quangos and health boards, bringing lobbying transparency to the Senedd, and reforming local government accountability, without making significant proposals on the powers or structure of Welsh devolution itself.
3 pledges
Create a lobbyist register in the Senedd
A lobbyist register will be created in the Senedd to bring it in line with Westminster and the Scottish Parliament.
Stop using strategies as a substitute for action with named ministerial responsibility
Where change is needed, Reform will take a clear decision, assign responsibility to a named minister or senior official, and set out practical steps with firm deadlines, stopping the use of strategies, campaigns, and reports as a substitute for delivery.
Abolish tokenistic ministerial roles such as Minister for Climate Change
Tokenistic ministerial responsibilities including the Minister for Climate Change will be abolished as part of a drive to reduce unnecessary bureaucracy.
Equality & Communities
Reform Wales proposes to make government policy based on biological sex, end DEI roles in the public sector, and launch a grooming gangs inquiry. On veterans, it commits to prioritising them for social housing and a guaranteed interview scheme across the devolved public sector.
2 pledges
Make all government policy based on biological sex
Government policy will be made based on biological sex, including ending gender self-identification in women's sports and stopping what the party characterises as gender ideology being taught in schools.
Prioritise Armed Forces veterans for social housing
In line with Reform national policy, local authorities will be mandated to enforce a strict 10-year residency requirement for social housing with the requirement waived for Armed Forces veterans, domestic abuse survivors, and care leavers under 25.
Immigration
Reform Wales proposes ending the Nation of Sanctuary policy, rejecting migrant hotels and HMO conversions housing illegal migrants, scrapping all international aid spending in devolved budgets, and ending taxpayer-funded support for what it describes as illegal economic migrants.
5 pledges
End the Nation of Sanctuary policy and prohibit local plans
The Nation of Sanctuary policy will be ended at the national level and any local plans also prohibited, on the basis that it has provided taxpayer-funded support to illegal economic migrants and admitted unvetted individuals into communities.
Change planning law to prevent hotels being converted into migrant hostels
Planning law will be changed to prevent conversion of hotels into migrant hostels. HMO licensing will be overhauled so licences are refused, revoked, or suspended when landlords are caught knowingly housing illegal migrants.
Scrap all international aid spending in devolved budgets
Every pound of international aid in Welsh devolved budgets will be redirected into Welsh priorities, with the manifesto citing overseas tree-planting projects as an example of misplaced spending while A&E waiting times hit record levels.
End taxpayer-funded NGOs that operate as political campaigning organisations
Public funding for NGOs and charities that operate as political campaigning organisations under the guise of promoting civil society will be ended.
Local Government
Reform Wales commits to requiring post-election value-for-money audits in every council, demanding strategic town plans, creating a ring-fenced public spaces repair fund, introducing shared services, and cutting reliance on consultants and agency staff. The party frames local government reform as restoring accountability and common sense after what it characterises as Labour's tolerance of waste.
13 pledges
Require councils to carry out post-election value-for-money audits
Following each local election, councils will be required to conduct a comprehensive audit of spending, contracts, and service delivery to expose inefficiencies early and allow new administrations to act decisively.
Create a ring-fenced local fund to repair public spaces and street furniture
A ring-fenced fund will be created for fixing broken benches, damaged paving, unsafe steps, missing railings, and unreadable signs. Local authorities will prioritise repairs that improve safety, accessibility, and usability.
Require every town to publish a clear strategic plan
Every town will be required to publish a clear strategic plan setting out its approach to retail, housing, public services, and regeneration.
Promote shared services across councils for IT, procurement, and back office
Councils will be encouraged to share IT systems, procurement platforms, and back-office functions through shared efficiency frameworks to pool expertise and reduce duplication.