Politician kicked out of Senedd Tories for talking to Reform

A prominent Welsh Tory has been thrown out of the group in Wales’ parliament for saying he was thinking about defecting to Reform UK, his party’s Senedd leader has said.

James Evans has been removed from the shadow cabinet by leader Darren Millar and had the whip withdrawn, making him an independent.

Millar said he did so on Tuesday morning “after being informed by James that he was continuing to engage with Reform representatives about the possibility of defecting to the party in spite of his personal assurances on Friday that he had rejected an approach they initiated last week”.

In a statement, Evans said he had left the Conservative party which he said no longer represents his values.

“I will take some time in the coming weeks to consider my political future,” he said.

Speculation has been heightened that Evans could defect following an interview with BBC Wales on Sunday, where he criticised UK party leader Kemi Badenoch and declined to say if he had spoken to Reform.