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Reform UK Senedd candidate failed to declare Freemasonry membership on council register

A Reform UK candidate who could be elected to represent parts of Swansea and Neath Port Talbot has admitted failing to declare his Freemasonry membership on his council register of interests, saying he did not realise he was required to do so.

Iain McIntosh, who runs a carpet business in Brecon and defected from the Conservatives last year, is a member of Powys County Council and is number two on Reform UK’s list for the Brycheiniog Tawe Nedd constituency in next month’s Senedd election — a position that gives him a realistic chance of being elected. The large regional seat covers Powys as well as parts of Swansea and Neath Port Talbot. Nation Cymru reports that a political source provided lodge minutes showing McIntosh had been initiated as a Freemason on 26 February 2020 and passed in November 2021.

Powys County Council’s Register of Members’ Interests asks councillors to declare membership of any company, industrial and provident society, charity or body directed to charitable purposes. The Freemasons make regular charity donations. Under that category, McIntosh had declared “None.”

When approached, McIntosh immediately confirmed he was the individual named in the lodge minutes. “I didn’t realise I was supposed to declare my membership in the Register of Interests, because I didn’t see any conflict. Powys County Council has no contracts with the Lodge I am a member of,” he said.

He added that he had joined to make charity donations and socialise, and had not attended a lodge meeting for a year or 18 months. “I’m a very transparent person and it’s not in my nature to be secretive. If it was up to me, I’d be quite happy to let people know what goes on at meetings — there’s nothing dodgy,” he said. He added that Freemasons could be found across all parties and that if elected to the Senedd he would be happy to declare his membership if required.

The political source said the issue was one of openness and transparency rather than a debate on the merits of Freemasonry itself. “If he is serving constituents, some may be comfortable with his freemasonry, others may not be. So it is important that he is open, transparent and straightforward by telling them what oaths he has sworn to certain clubs and societies,” the source said.

The disclosure comes at a turbulent time for Reform UK in Wales with the Senedd election weeks away. Former Senedd MS Caroline Jones resigned from the party last week, citing candidate parachuting and a “wall of silence” in response to formal complaints.

Three of Reform’s six candidates for the Bridgend and Vale of Glamorgan constituency quit in the space of days — including its top two — while a Swansea candidate resigned in a furious “betrayal” rant, saying the party had “sunk deep into the sewer.”

The Brycheiniog Tawe Nedd constituency, which takes in parts of the Brecon Beacons, Swansea and Neath Port Talbot, is one of the more keenly contested regional seats in next month’s Senedd election. With McIntosh second on the list, the question of what he has or hasn’t declared to his current council — and what he would declare as a Senedd member — is now a live one ahead of polling day on 7 May.

McIntosh said he remained committed to transparency. “If I get elected to the Senedd and they want me to declare I am a Freemason, I’ll be happy to do so,” he said.

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REFORM UK: Former Senedd MS Caroline Jones resigns citing candidate parachuting and “wall of silence”

Jones, 70, who represented South Wales West as a regional MS from 2016 to 2021, announced her resignation on social media, saying she had formally submitted her departure more than 24 hours before making it public and had received no response from the party.

In a lengthy statement, Jones said local members who had worked hard in their communities had been passed over for candidacies, with individuals she described as having “little or no connection” to constituencies being placed into positions instead. She said this had caused “deep frustration and disappointment” among members, candidates and supporters who had invested time and resources in good faith.

More seriously, she alleged that some of those parachuted into constituencies had brought “further reputational damage” through conduct including allegations of racism and discrimination — claims she said had embarrassed those who had worked to represent their communities with integrity.

“This continued lack of engagement reflects the wall of silence that many of us have experienced when trying to seek clarity and accountability,” Jones wrote, adding that she had made repeated formal attempts to get answers and had consistently been ignored.

The resignation adds to a growing picture of turmoil inside Reform UK’s Welsh operation in the weeks before the May 2026 Senedd election. Swansea Bay News has reported extensively on the party’s difficulties across the region, including the collapse of its Bridgend candidate slate, a furious resignation in Swansea in which a candidate branded the party a “sewer”, and a Carmarthenshire candidate launch overshadowed by wider defections and internal turbulence.

Jones is not a new face to Welsh political turbulence. She was first elected on the UKIP ticket in 2016, briefly led the UKIP Senedd group in 2018, and subsequently left to sit as an independent before joining the Brexit Party — now Reform UK — in 2019. She later broke with the group again over its anti-devolution stance, forming the Independent Alliance for Reform group in the Senedd until her seat ended at the 2021 election. She rejoined Reform UK in 2023.

Her resignation echoes complaints that have surfaced repeatedly across Wales. Candidate selection disputes, allegations of racism and discrimination against Reform figures in the region, and the high-profile jailing of former Wales leader Nathan Gill for ten and a half years over a Russian bribery case have collectively damaged the party’s credibility ahead of what polls suggest could be a significant electoral moment.

Jones said her decision was “about integrity, and about standing up for what is right”, and that she remained committed to serving veterans and her community.

It is not yet clear whether she intends to stand as an independent candidate at the Senedd election or step back from frontline politics.

Jones represented the South Wales West region, which covers Bridgend, Neath Port Talbot and Swansea — areas that have been among the most turbulent for the party’s Welsh operation.

The Senedd election takes place on 7 May 2026. Reform UK has not yet responded to the resignation.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

Bridgend chaos: Three of Reform’s six Pen-y-bont Senedd candidates have quit — and nobody knows who’ll replace them
Three of Reform UK’s six Bridgend Senedd candidates quit ahead of the May 2026 election, leaving the party scrambling to fill its slate.

Swansea Reform UK candidate quits in furious ‘betrayal’ rant — ‘Party has sunk into the sewer!’
A Reform UK Swansea candidate resigned with a furious public statement accusing the party of betrayal.

Carmarthenshire: Reform UK names full Senedd slate — but defections cast shadow over campaign launch
Reform UK named its Carmarthenshire Senedd candidates, but the announcement was overshadowed by wider party turbulence and defections.

Nigel Farage appoints new Reform Wales leader as Labour says party is now run by Tories
Nigel Farage appointed a new Reform UK Wales leader amid ongoing questions about the party’s direction in Wales.

Former Reform UK Wales leader Nathan Gill jailed for 10 and a half years over Russian bribery
Nathan Gill, the former leader of Reform UK in Wales, was jailed for over a decade after being convicted of accepting Russian bribes.

Plaid Cymru storms ahead as shock Senedd poll predicts political earthquake in Wales
A major Senedd poll showed Plaid Cymru surging ahead, with significant implications for all parties including Reform UK.

BRIDGEND CHAOS: Three of Reform’s six Pen-y-bont Senedd candidates have quit — and nobody knows who’ll replace them

Reform UK is facing a crisis in Bridgend after three of its six candidates for the area’s Senedd constituency quit in rapid succession — leaving the party without its top two names just weeks before polling day and with no replacements yet announced.

The triple resignation in Pen-y-bont Bro Morgannwg — the new Senedd constituency covering Bridgend and the Vale of Glamorgan — means it is currently unclear who will represent the party on election day. Nominations close on April 9, and Reform has told the BBC it intends to present a full list.

The first to go was Corey Edwards, who had been placed first on the list and therefore had the best chance of winning a seat for the party. He resigned after a photograph emerged appearing to show him performing a Nazi salute. Nigel Farage initially defended Edwards, claiming he had been impersonating Basil Fawlty. Edwards stood down the following day.

The second resignation came from Derek Roberts, who had been placed second on the list. A Reform source confirmed he had stepped back for “personal reasons” that have not been made public, describing him as an ex-military figure who “remains an active champion for veterans in his community.”

As first and second on a six-seat proportional list, both Edwards and Roberts had a realistic chance of being elected in May. Their departures have stripped the party of its most likely winners in the constituency.

The third candidate to leave was Owain Clatworthy, placed sixth. As Swansea Bay News reported, Clatworthy made history last year when he won the Pyle, Kenfig Hill and Cefn Cribwr by-election by just 30 votes, becoming Bridgend County Borough Council’s youngest ever councillor at 20 years old. He has now resigned from Reform entirely, saying he will continue to serve his ward as an independent.

In a public statement, Clatworthy cited “poor internal decision making, a lack of discipline and serious concerns around candidate selection,” accusing the party of selecting candidates “with little or no connection to the communities they seek to represent.” Speaking to BBC Wales, he said the Edwards photograph “really did it for me. I can’t support a party that would be happy to back something like that.”

He added: “The country is in a mess and it’s easy to complain and I thought Reform were the answer. From day one, up until now, the way I have been treated, and members and other councillors have been treated by the leadership team, is not good.”

The Pen-y-bont situation is the sharpest expression of a wider problem that has engulfed Reform’s Welsh campaign in recent days. In total, the party has lost four candidates across Wales in a single week — with a further two having withdrawn before the official lists were even published. Patrick Benham-Crosswell, Reform’s fourth-placed candidate in Gŵyr Abertawe, was among those to go — his furious departure, which Swansea Bay News was first to report, saw him accuse the party of taking members and candidates “for granted.” Andrew Barry resigned from the Pontypridd Cynon Merthyr slate and from Reform itself, saying candidates were being “parachuted in” to areas with no connection to them.

The scale of the problem has been confirmed by sources inside the party. A separate source told the BBC that local Reform branches “were in turmoil.” A whistleblower described the vetting process as “expensive, flawed and unprofessional,” and said the system “favours insiders, parachuted candidates and personal connections over local knowledge and competence.”

Even one of the party’s own candidates who survived the process has spoken critically of it. Torfaen Reform councillor Jason O’Connell, who is standing as Reform’s number one candidate in Pontypridd Cynon Merthyr, told BBC Radio Wales’ Sunday Supplement that the vetting had been “brutal” and “intrusive,” saying the party had rejected “genuinely good people” over old social media posts. “We’ve lost that ability to bring them in because, as I said, digital is forever,” he said.

There is also a practical consequence to the resignations beyond the reputational damage. Under the new Welsh voting system, parties are required to put forward full lists of candidates in each constituency. Having fewer than six candidates not only affects a party’s chances of winning seats — it limits how much they are legally allowed to spend on their campaign. Reform has said it will field a full list, but with nominations closing on April 9 and no replacements announced, the clock is ticking.

The turmoil in Bridgend comes as Reform holds significant polling support in the constituency. The party has been targeting working-class communities across south Wales valleys and coastal towns, and polling has projected it as competitive across the region. The question now is whether the chaos in its candidate selection damages that support — or whether, as has happened elsewhere in the UK, voters back the party regardless of the turbulence at the top.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

Reform beat Labour by 30 votes in council by-election
Owain Clatworthy’s narrow by-election win that made him Bridgend’s youngest ever councillor — and set him on the path to now quitting Reform.

Swansea Reform UK candidate quits in furious ‘betrayal’ rant – ‘Party has sunk into the sewer!’
The Gŵyr Abertawe resignation Swansea Bay News broke first — one of four Reform departures across Wales in a week.

Reform Senedd hopeful quits party over claims of ‘rigged’ selection process in Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion
The selection row that has been spreading across Wales ahead of the May 7 vote.

Plaid Cymru storms ahead as shock Senedd poll predicts political earthquake in Wales
The polling context — and whether Reform’s chaos is showing up in the numbers.

M&S ROW: Council leader accuses Senedd candidate of using job losses for ‘deplorable’ election campaign

Swansea Council Leader Rob Stewart has hit back at political opponents over the closure of the city’s M&S store, calling it “deplorable” that a Senedd candidate is using the potential loss of 90 local jobs for his election campaign.

The blistering attack comes in response to criticism from Liberal Democrat Senedd candidate Sam Bennett and Swansea Lib Dem leader Cllr Chris Holley, who yesterday questioned the council’s regeneration priorities in the wake of the M&S closure announcement.

In a statement, the Labour leader launched a full-throated defence of his administration’s record while attacking the previous Liberal Democrat-led council.

“It’s deplorable that Cllr Sam Bennett is using the closure of the store with the potential loss of 90 local jobs to try and further his Senedd election campaign,” Cllr Stewart said.

The attack is politically charged, as both men are candidates in the new Gŵyr Abertawe Senedd constituency for the 2026 election. Cllr Stewart is ranked second on the Welsh Labour list, while Cllr Bennett is the lead candidate for the Welsh Liberal Democrats.

He also criticised his Lib Dem counterpart, stating, “It’s also disappointing to see Cllr Holley doesn’t have confidence in Swansea, or its traders and businesses.”

Cllr Stewart claimed his opponents “have not openly supported any of the developments in Swansea delivered over the last 11 years” and are “critics of the £1.3bn city deal.”

He also revealed that M&S has not given up on the city, stating, “M&S are actively looking for a different location in Swansea and have acknowledged the positive impact the regeneration is having.”

He then turned his fire on the record of the previous Liberal Democrat administration, which was led by Cllr Holley for much of its tenure, and controlled Swansea Council from 2004-2012.

“The Lib Dems introduced the disastrous bendy bus, continually dug up the Kingsway and introduced the mad road system, and absolutely failed to invest and support local businesses to grow,” he said.

“They have no ambition for Swansea.”