Senedd Conservative Laura Anne Jones defects to Reform

Senedd politician Laura Anne Jones has defected from the Conservatives to Reform, party leader Nigel Farage has announced.

Jones becomes the party's first Member of the Senedd (MS) and is Reform's highest profile defection in Wales.

She said she could no longer justify Conservative policies on the doorstep, and said her former party found out as the press conference was unfolding.

Welsh Conservative leader Darren Millar said voters in her region of South Wales East will feel "very let down by her announcement".

Recent polls have suggested Reform has a chance of being the largest party at next May's Senedd election.

It follows the decision of former Conservative Welsh Secretary David Jones to join Reform and followed weeks of speculation that the party was trying to persuade an MS to join.

Speaking at the Royal Welsh Show in Llanelwedd, Jones said: "I've just suddenly felt that the Conservative Party was unrecognisable to me. It wasn't the party that I joined over three decades ago."

She said Reform "is listening to the people of Great Britain".

Jones had been reselected by the Conservatives for the new Senedd seat of Sir Fynwy Torfaen, but she faced a contest with Tory MS Peter Fox for the top spot on the party list there.

She denied that she had joined Reform because she was worried about not getting re-elected.

"I had a fair chance of getting in," she told a news conference.

Farage said Jones brings "experience. She knows how the place works, and that's very important for us".

Jones was first elected to the then-National Assembly in 2003, serving one term until 2007, before returning in 2020 after the death of Mohammad Asghar.

She was re-elected the following year, at the 2021 election, for South Wales East.

Her defection means the Conservatives are down to 14 politicians in the Welsh Parliament.

Welsh Conservative leader in the Senedd Darren Millar said: "Naturally, I'm disappointed by Laura's decision and Conservative Party members and voters in South East Wales will feel very let down by her announcement.

He added: "We wish Laura all the very best in her new high tax and high spend party."

Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth said: "This is yet another desperate Tory defection who knows the writing is on the wall for their party's prospects next May."