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Reform's membership will not get a vote on who replaces its former Welsh party leader Dan Thomas, according to its chief whip in the Senedd. Thomas quit on Tuesday after he was arrested over the weekend on suspicion of assault and controlling or coercive behaviour. He was bailed pending further enquiries, and denies doing anything wrong.
Powell told Radio Wales Breakfast that Reform's 33 Senedd members will have a vote if there is more than one candidate. Reform's chief whip Llŷr Powell, interim leader Helen Jenner and James Evans are thought to be among the potential candidates to replace him, although no one had made their interest public by Wednesday lunchtime. Cai Parry-Jones and Jason O'Connell are believed to have ruled themselves out.
The news that Dan Thomas had been arrested broke at the same time as Reform MS Sarah Cooper-Lesadd separately decided to defect to Plaid Cymru . Party members met in Cardiff Bay to discuss their next steps on Wednesday morning, with a party official from London attending to oversee proceedings. Dan Thomas is understood to have been present in person for the meeting.
Speaking to Radio Wales Breakfast, Powell said none of the other group leaders in the Senedd had been elected by their members. "So there's no difference there, but we've got a constitution. We're following it through," he added.
"Nominations can open and this process, I'm convinced, will be done by the end of the month so we can once again focus on what is the priority." He said that "is the people of Wales and holding this government to account because of the scary things they're doing right now". "It's not about trust here. It's about our members wanting us to get on with the vote, with the job at hand." "I don't see an internal vote as the priority right now." Powell did not rule out being a contender himself.
"Honestly, I haven't even considered anything like that," he said. The chief whip refused to answer a question on the programme as to whether he was happy for Thomas to remain a Reform Senedd member during the police investigation. Reform has not announced any of its own disciplinary action against Thomas.
"The investigation's going on. I'm not going to presume anything," he said, adding it was "right that Dan stepped down". Gwent Police said on Tuesday that on Sunday a 45-year-old man, from the Aberbargoed area, "was arrested on suspicion of assault and engaging in controlling/coercive behaviour".
"He has been bailed pending further enquiries," the spokesperson added. In his resignation statement, Thomas said: "Over the weekend, I was reported to the police 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."
Source: BBC
