A Reform UK campaign office has been vandalised after the party lost what would’ve been a historic by-election victory. Graffiti which read “Now u can f*** off home” was spray painted onto the shutters of the Reform office on Cardiff Road, Caerphilly.
According to reports, the vandalism occurred on Saturday — one day after the results of the town’s Senedd by-election were announced. Plaid Cymru won the seat after securing 47% of the vote, while Reform finished second with 36%. The result marked a humiliating defeat for Labour which had held the Caerphilly seat since the Senedd was established in 1999.
Reform candidate Llyr Powell said he was “disappointed” by the loss but was “excited” to see what his party could do in the future.
Billboards backing Mr Powell’s campaign have also been targeted by vandals, as reported by the Express earlier this week.
On one billboard, swastikas had been drawn in two corners of the election campaign material.
Ahead of the by-election vote, Mr Powell told the Express he had been subject to “intimidation”, including people showing up at his private home late at night, ringing his doorbell and banging on his door into the early hours of the morning.
He told GB News at the Caerphilly count: “I am grateful to every voter who went to the ballot box and voted Reform — despite the fear and attacks that have been put against them by the other parties.”
Nigel Farage in September warned Sir Keir Starmer’s accusations that Reform’s deportation policy is “racist” would lead to increased violence against his party’s politicians and councillors.
Mr Farage visited Caerphilly earlier this month to support Mr Powell’s campaign, with the Reform leader’s arrival in the town stoking tensions online.
Welsh Labour finished third in the Caerphilly by-election, with just 11% of the votes.
Plaid leader Rhun ap Iorwerth said victory for his party’s candidate, Lindsay Whittle, marked a “reset” in Welsh politics, per WalesOnline.
Reform was hoping to secure its second Senedd seat in the by-election.
The party’s only politician in the Welsh Parliament is Laura Anne Jones, MS for South Wales East.
