Dan Thomas: The ex-London council leader in charge of Reform Wales

Reform's Welsh leader Dan Thomas might not have achieved his goal of becoming Wales' next first minister, with Plaid Cymru now the largest party in Cardiff Bay. But Reform are by far the largest opposition party in the new, expanded Senedd chamber, with 34 out of the 96 seats. Not bad for someone who entered Welsh frontline politics only three months ago, chosen by Nigel Farage to front Reform's operation in Wales. By then, opinion polls had consistently suggested the party was on course to win a substantial number of seats on 7 May, with Thomas its new candidate for first minister. At his first appearance as Welsh leader - alongside Farage at a Reform rally in Newport - Thomas emphasised his roots in Blackwood, saying he was "born and raised in the Welsh valleys, where my family lived for generations". Both his grandfather and great‑grandfather were miners, he said, and he spoke warmly about his childhood in Wales, explaining that he left as an adult because opportunities were "few and far between". Thomas went on to work in financial services in London before entering local politics, becoming a councillor and later Conservative leader of Barnet Council in north London. During tha