NEWLY released footage showing a grim insight into disgraced Ghislaine Maxwell’s life in prison has been released in the latest Epstein files.

The never-before-seen CCTV clip shows the onetime socialite, 64, pacing up and down her jail cell and scoffing what appears to be a burger.

Sporting an orange jumpsuit and surrounded by white walls, Maxwell can be seen curled up on her mattress repeatedly pressing her hands into her head.

The chilling footage was released by the Department of Justice last Friday, among a massive new tranche of files related to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year-sentance at a Federal medium-security in Texas.

She was arrested in July 2020 on six federal charges, including sexual exploitation of minors, transportation of minors across state lines for sex and perjury.

The clip was filmed inside the notorious Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, in July of 2020, when Maxwell was awaiting bail.

On July 14, she pleaded not guilty to all charges and was denied bail. At the time, she was facing up to 35 years in prison.

Months later, on December 28, a judge turned down a $28.5million bail package because she posed a flight risk.

Her lawyers claimed guards were conducting invasive searches of her cell every 15 minutes to make sure she was still alive.

She was found guilty on December 29, 2021 and hauled into Florida’s Tallahassee Federal Correctional Institution.

In August last year she was moved again into a low security prison camp 100 miles outside Houston, Texas.

It comes as…

The move came after Maxwell spoke to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche about more than 100 men connected to Epstein, including Prince Andrew, but was condemned by her victims.

She is expected to sit for a congressional deposition on February 9, on request of Republican House Oversight Chairman James Comer.

During a hearing on January 21, Comer said: “I agree that we need to hear from Ghislaine Maxwell.

“Our lawyers have been saying that she’s going to plead the fifth, but we have nailed down a date, February 9, where Ghislaine Maxwell will be deposed by this committee.”

The same hearing announced former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton could be held in contempt.

Former Democrat powerhouses Bill, 79, and Hillary, 78, came under fire for refusing to testify in the House Oversight Committee’s probe into Epstein.

The pair have since u-turned and agreed to testify.

Neither Bill nor Hillary Clinton has been accused of wrongdoing, and Hillary’s name has not appeared in any of the Epstein files released so far by the Department of Justice.

Maxwell has appealed her case numerous times and lost. In October, the US Supreme Court said it would not hear an appeal from her.

It comes as the Justice Department released a massive new batch of Epstein-related material, exposing his ties to major figures across the world.

This was both before and after the late financier pleaded guilty in 2008 to prostitution charges, including soliciting an underage girl.

A number of well-known names like Richard Branson, Bill Gates, Elon Musk and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor are mentioned multiple times in the files.

June Bunyan, 37, originally from the Isle of Arran, was found dismembered at her home in Los Angeles, California, on September 11.

The family of a lawyer who was brutally murdered in the US have launched a fundraising bid to cover a legal fight to bring her baby to Scotland.

New mum June Bunyan, 37, from the Isle of Arran, was found dismembered at her home in Los Angeles, California, on September 11. Police in America were called to June’s flat after her husband Jonathan Renteria was found injured in a hotel room alongside a note where he confessed to killing her.

Renteria, 25, is currently behind bars on suspicion of murder, disinterment, mutilation and sexual contact with human remains. He has pleaded not guilty and his lawyer has suggested he may have been experiencing psychosis at the time of June’s death.

June’s baby girl Regina remains in the US with Renteria’s parents. Her family have launched a custody battle to bring her baby home to Scotland but need £40,000 to foot the legal costs.

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A newly launched online fundraiser has raised more than £1000 in a few hours. The Bunyan family believe the infant’s best interests “lie in being reunited with her maternal family in Scotland, where she can grow up surrounded by love, stability, and a strong connection to her mother’s heritage”.

A statement from June’s family reads: “We are raising funds to secure urgent legal representation to bring June Bunyan’s baby daughter, Regina, home to Scotland to be with her maternal family.

“Following June’s tragic death in September, her baby remains in the US, separated from her mother’s family and from everything that connected June to her life in Scotland. Most distressingly for us, Regina has been placed in the care of her paternal grandparents, while her father is currently remanded in custody, accused of killing her mother.

“For many reasons, this is deeply concerning and should never be the long-term outcome for a child who has already suffered such an unimaginable loss. We firmly believe that Regina’s best interests lie in being reunited with her maternal family in Scotland, where she can grow up surrounded by love, stability, and a strong connection to her mother’s heritage.

“Achieving this, however, means navigating complex and time-sensitive international family law, something we simply cannot do without experienced legal representation.”

Her family claims when her body was discovered by police, her personal belongings, including her passport, were missing.

The statement continues: “When June’s body was found on September 11, her apartment had been completely emptied. Everything that connected June to her life was gone: her passport and identification, bank details, health insurance information, medical records, and all essential documents relating to Regina.

“There are many unresolved questions regarding the removal of June’s possessions, the whereabouts currently unknown. June’s passport and other official documents are currently being held by the LAPD, following their recovery from Regina’s grandparents.

“As a result, we are facing further devastating obstacles at a time when we are simply trying to grieve. Without access to these vital records, we do not know whether June had funds, health insurance, or any financial resources. We do not have access to her bank account, we have received no meaningful assistance from the authorities, and we have no means to cover urgent legal costs.”

Earlier this week, June’s mum Jill Bunyan told how she is living in hell as she faces a two-year wait for answers about her daughter’s death.

She told the BBC: “It’s two years you can’t grieve, it’s two years you can’t move on, it’s two years you’re just waiting. We’re in hell. This is a nightmare.

“I lost my daughter. Right now I can’t see my granddaughter and I have not one thing, not one possession of my daughter’s – and I want to know why.”

June moved from Scotland to the US to pursue a career in law. She had set up a paralegal service after she moved to LA and met Renteria. Shortly after they couple got together, June filed a restraining order against him citing domestic violence. That claim was later dropped.

In September last year, officers discovered June’s torso with missing limbs. The autopsy stated the cause of death was traumatic neck injuries and that June suffered approximately 10 “sharp force injuries.”

The couple had welcomed their baby months before her murder.

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Wales will have to be on the money to have any chance of competing with England

Sam Warburton has identified three key areas Wales must improve on if they are to stand any chance of competing with England in Saturday’s Six Nations opener at Allianz Stadium Twickenham.

In his Times column, the former Wales captain insists Steve Tandy’s side must be significantly better at the set-piece, in the air and in terms of winning collisions against high-flying England. Steve Borthwick’s side are extremely clinical in the opposition 22 so it is imperative Wales’ set-piece holds firm.

If Wales start conceding penalties at the scrum then it will be a long afternoon for the visitors.

Wales are without Cardiff tighthead Keiron Assiratti, who was one of their better players in the autumn, but are boosted by the return of the experienced Tomas Francis who has been named on the bench.

England have injuries in the front-row but Ellis Genge and Joe Heyes are two of the best scrummagers in the business.

“There are three key areas that Wales will have been focusing on this week,” Warburton wrote in The Times.

“The first is the set piece. That has always been a traditional area of strength for England, but Wales must make sure that they do not concede too many penalties at the scrum and lineout.

“They will have been working hard on their maul defence, because if England win seven or eight penalties from scrums and lineouts, then that could be seven or eight entries into Wales’ half or even their 22.”

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Wales got exposed badly under the high-ball throughout the autumn and Tandy has responded by not including Blair Murray for the first time in 14 Test matches.

He has opted for Louis Rees-Zammit at full-back with Ellis Mee and Josh Adams on the wing.

All three are strong under the high ball but England full-back Freddie Steward is the best in the business.

“I see that Steve Borthwick, the England head coach, has been saying that Wales will kick a lot and I think he is right, because Wales are realising they need to be a bit more pragmatic at times,” wrote Warburton.

“Yes, they have a coaching staff that want to attack — and we must remember that they scored four tries against New Zealand, only the second time a Wales team has ever done that since the 2003 World Cup match — but it is a question of balance and I do think they are beginning to understand that a little more.

“I really like the selection of Louis Rees-Zammit at full back.

“He is a different player from when he first went to American football. It is not just about his pace now.

“He has put on 5-6kg of muscle, which is a lot for any athlete, and he is much more dominant in contact.”

But more than anything Wales’ chances of avoiding a walloping at Twickenham depends on how competitive they are at the gain-line.

If Wales lose the collisions and allow England to get over the gain-line then this could get ugly.

“If England carry the ball 150 to 200 times, that’s 150 to 200 collisions that have to be dominant or at least neutral from a Welsh perspective,” wrote Warburton.

“If the majority of them are negative collisions for Wales, it is going to be so difficult.”

“I feel like the ex-top players have a responsibility to the new generation,” Van Dijk said.

“Criticism is absolutely normal and part of the game, and I think it should stay that way.

“But sometimes criticism also goes into being clickbait, saying things to provoke things, and without thinking about the repercussions for the mental side of players, and especially the younger generation, who are constantly on social media.

“You can say, ‘yeah, you shouldn’t be on social media’ – that’s what I’ve mentioned [to them] loads of times.

“There is always this thing of when you play a good game, younger players check all the positive praises, but when you have a worse game, and you’re getting bullied all over social media, or you’re getting bad criticism, it can really affect you.

“I’ve seen that in certain players in the past, and currently as well, because it’s just not easy.”

The man suffered serious injuries the ambulance service has said

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A shop worker was seriously injured after being stabbed whilst chasing a shoplifter from the store.

The horrific incident occurred in a Birmingham branch of Heron Foods just after 10.05am on Thursday (February 5). West Midlands Police and paramedics were called to the shop yesterday, where the worker was treated at the scene before being taken to hospital.

His injuries were said to be serious and no arrests have been made, but police inquiries are continuing.

A police spokesman told BirminghamLive: “We were called to a store on Heathland Avenue, Shard End at around 10.05am after a man was seriously injured during a robbery.

“The man suffered a knife wound to his stomach and was taken to hospital for treatment. As part of our investigation, we are reviewing CCTV footage and speaking to witnesses.

“Anyone with any information is asked to contact us by calling 101 or via Live Chat on our website quoting 20/137209/26.”

A spokesman from West Midlands Ambulance Service said: “We were called to reports of a stabbing on Heathland Avenue at 10.06am, one ambulance, two paramedic officers and a MERIT trauma doctor, with a critical care paramedic, attended the scene.

“On arrival we discovered one patient, a man, who was treated for serious injuries before being taken to hospital.”

Heron Foods is opposite the Heathway shops in Shard End, the store has been contacted for a statement.

This article was first published in The Conversation UK’s World Affairs Briefing email. Sign up to receive weekly analysis of the latest developments in international relations, direct to your inbox.

January and February are the cruellest months in Ukraine. For the past week, temperatures in Kyiv have hovered between lows of -19°C and highs of -6°C. The Ukrainian capital gets about nine hours of daylight per day. And the relentless Russian bombardment of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure has meant that, for the most part, people are shivering in the dark in the coldest winter in a decade.

At one point in January, things were so bad that Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, ordered anyone who could to leave the city to leave and find refuge in places with alternative sources of power and heating.

There are conflicting reports as to whether the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, honoured the commitment he reportedly made to Donald Trump to order a one-week pause on attacks on Ukraine’s power infrastructure. The US president insisted he had, Ukrainians said he hadn’t and that, in any case, Russia was attacking so many Ukrainian targets that it was hard to tell when the “power truce” actually began and when it ended.

At the time, Kremlin mouthpiece Dmitry Peskov said that the goal was the “creation of favourable conditions for holding talks”. It’s no coincidence that the nights before both recent rounds of three-way talks between Russian, Ukrainian and American negotiators saw massive Russian bombardment of critical civilian infrastructure in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities.

And, once again, the talks have failed to achieve very much. After the most recent day of negotiations in Abu Dhabi, some progress has been made on prisoner swaps, but little else of any substance has been agreed. As Stefan Wolff notes, the two sides are so far apart in their negotiating positions that there’s little or no chance of seeing a meaningful peace agreement any time soon.

Wolff, an expert in international security at the University of Birmingham who has written regularly for The Conversation since the full-scale invasion nearly four years ago, sees a series of potholes on the road to peace, many of which Trump has helped to dig.

For example, on the vexed issue of territory, Putin takes as his starting point what has become known as the “Anchorage formula”, apparently agreed with the US president when the pair met in Alaska last August. This holds that in return for security guarantees from Kyiv’s allies (the coalition of the willing in Europe, but – of course – principally the US), Ukraine will withdraw from the portion of the Donbas that it still holds after four years of bitter fighting.

Zelensky, for his part, remains adamant that this is a non-starter. Meanwhile Putin is equally adamant that he will not accept non-Ukrainian boots on the ground as guarantors of a ceasefire. Add to that, Trump’s mercurial approach to security guarantees and his apparent desire to link any peace deal to some sort of business upside for the US, and you understand why Wolff concludes that: “Any claims of progress in the negotiations in Abu Dhabi are therefore at best over-optimistic and at worst self-deluding.”

À lire aussi :
Farcical peace talks continue in Abu Dhabi as Ukraine shivers under Russia’s winter onslaught

Take Putin’s stipulation that Kyiv must withdraw its military from the rest of the Donbas. This, write Rod Thornton and Marina Miron of King’s College London, would be tantamount to suicide for Ukraine. The “Donbas line” has held up Russia’s westward advance for the best part of four years.

It comprises a row of fortified cities linked by a line of seven distinct defensive layers which Russian troops would need to overcome to move further into central Ukraine.

Given the rate of attrition, particularly on Russia’s side (at last count, estimates are that Russian casualties have mounted to 1.2 million killed, inured or missing – more than double those of Ukraine) you can understand why Putin’s military planners are so keen to avoid their troops having to face these sophisticated killing zones.

À lire aussi :
Trump wants Ukraine to give up the Donbas in return for security guarantees. It could be fatal for Kyiv

To sum up: the post-second world war order is in disarray, Nato is looking shakier by the week, a major war is raging in Europe and the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, is reportedly becoming increasingly insistent about China’s claim over the future of Taiwan in his recent phone call with the US president. So now’s a good time to note that the New Start nuclear arms control treaty has just expired, prompting speculation on all sides as to the likelihood of a new nuclear arms race.

À lire aussi :
New Start’s expiration will make the world less safe – even if it doesn’t spark another nuclear arms race

Xi’s military purge

Talking of China, reports emerged recently that Xi has purged another of his top generals. The removal of Zhang Youxia, vice-chair of China’s central military commission (CMC), which is chaired by Xi, means that all but one of the members of that powerful body have lost their positions in the past three years.

China-watcher Kerry Brown, of the Lau China Institute at King’s College London, tracks XI’s record of purging senior officials since his early days in charge. When considering what this might mean for Taiwan, it’s worth noting that Zhang was the last remaining senior military commander with actual combat experience, having fought in the war against Vietnam in the late 1970s. This may mean that China will need to regroup and reorganise before it could consider mounting any aggressive action against Taiwan. All eyes will be on who replaces Zhang.

À lire aussi :
Why Xi purged China’s top military general

Competing visions for Gaza

On the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos the other week, shortly after the US president launched his Board of Peace, the dignitaries who had signed up to the board were given a presentation on the future of Gaza by two members of the board’s executive committee: Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

It was a similar vision to one publicised by the US president last year and featured gleaming office towers, data centres, luxury beachfront resorts and modern transport hubs. Like a similar plan unveiled by Israel last year, it’s not immediately clear what part the 2.1 million residents of Gaza may play in the reconstruction of their homeland.

Timothy J. Dixon, an expert in urban futures at the University of Reading, has run his ruler over the competing visions for the future of Gaza and spells out some of the considerable challenges that lie ahead for anyone taking on this gargantuan task.

Not the least of them is doing something with the estimated 61 million tonnes of rubble under which there is likely to be large amounts of unexploded ordnance and human remains.

Whether there is any justice in this for the people of Gaza themselves remains to be seen. One plan for reconstruction, the Gaza Phoenix plan, was developed by a consortium of local and regional planners and “preserves Gaza’s identity, its heritage and its people”. Or at least, that’s the aim. It sounds optimistic, but as Dixon points out, the most successful plans for large-scale reconstruction – most notably the Marshall plan for the rebuilding of Europe after 1945 – “involved close engagement with civil society and local communities to achieve success”.

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Craig David is set to return to York Racecourse this summer with his acclaimed TS5 DJ set.

The singer-songwriter will perform at the Knavesmire venue on Friday, July 24, as part of the 2026 Music Showcase.

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He is the final confirmed artist for the 2026 season, with Becky Hill set to perform on June 27 and Tom Grennan to take to the stage on July 25.

James Brennan, head of marketing and sponsorship at York Racecourse, said: “Having experienced the atmosphere that Craig David brought on his previous visit, music and racing fans are in for a treat.

“There is something special about our only evening and a DJ set with its light show promises to be a highlight of a popular summer schedule.”

The evening will include six races, featuring a £70,000 Listed contest for fillies supported by the European Breeders Fund.

Craig David’s TS5 show blends R&B, garage, house, and bashment, and has previously been performed to more than 100,000 fans on Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage, as well as selling out two O2 arenas earlier on in the year.

Grandstand and Paddock enclosure tickets start at £42 per person for groups of six, with no booking fees and free parking.

Tickets go on general sale from February 13 at 10am via www.yorkracecourse.co.uk, with early access available through selected fan clubs via the Ticketmaster platform.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — In some ways, 10-year-old Giancarlo is one of the lucky ones. He still goes to school.

Each morning, he and his family bundle up and leave their Minneapolis apartment to wait for his bus. His little brother hefts on his backpack, even though he stopped going to day care weeks ago because his mom is too afraid to take him.

As they wait behind a wrought-iron fence, Giancarlo’s mother pulls the boys into the shadow of a tree to pray. It’s the only time she stops scanning the street for immigration agents.

“God, please protect my son when he’s not at home,” she says in Spanish. She spoke with The Associated Press on condition of partial anonymity for the family, because she fears being targeted by immigration authorities.

For many immigrant families in Minnesota, sending a child to school requires faith that federal immigration officers deployed around the state won’t detain them. Thousands of children are staying home, often for lack of door-to-door transportation — or simply trust.

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The fear has turned into reality. Many parents and some children have been detained, including 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, who with his father, originally from Ecuador, was taken into custody in the Minneapolis suburb of Columbia Heights as he was arriving home from school. They were sent to a detention facility in Texas but returned after a judge ordered their release.

Schools, parents and community groups have mobilized to help students get to class so they can learn, socialize and have steady access to meals. And for those who are still sending their children, the trip to and from school is one of the only risks they’re willing to take.

“I don’t feel safe with him going to school,” Giancarlo’s mother said, shaking her head. “But every day he wakes up and wants to go. He wants to be with his friends.”

School remains a haven in a time of tumult

Giancarlo’s Minneapolis elementary school is the best thing going for him these days. There’s soccer to play at recess. The recorder to learn. Giancarlo has set his eyes on learning the flute next year when fifth graders choose an instrument. He has “demasiado” — “too many” — best friends to name.

But his mother and brother’s home confinement weighs on him. He saves half the food he gets at school breakfast and lunch to share with them, and he’s lost four pounds this year. He takes extra care to bring pizza or hamburgers, treats the family used to eat in restaurants when his mom, an asylum-seeker from Latin America, was still working and they felt safe leaving the house. Giancarlo has also applied for asylum and his brother, Yair, has U.S. citizenship.

Sometimes only seven of Giancarlo’s classmates show up when there should be close to 30. “The teachers cry,” he said. “It’s sad.”

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Under longstanding guidance that was thrown out by the Trump administration, schools and other “sensitive places” such as hospitals and churches previously were considered off-limits for Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and other immigration officials. Children, no matter their immigration status, have a constitutional right to attend public school.

This winter, school absenteeism and the demand for online learning have surged as immigration officers showed up in school parking lots.

In St. Paul, over 9,000 students were absent on Jan. 14, more than a quarter of the 33,000-student district, according to data obtained by the AP. In Fridley, a Minneapolis suburb, school attendance has dropped by nearly a third, according to a lawsuit the district filed this week trying to block immigration enforcement operations near schools.

Kids sent letters to St. Paul Superintendent Stacie Stanley begging her to offer online learning. Her voice shook as she read a letter from an elementary school student: “I don’t feel safe coming to school because of ICE.”

When the district introduced a temporary virtual learning option, over 3,500 students enrolled in the first 90 minutes. That number has since risen to more than 7,500 students.

An escort from school — and assurance for a small girl

After school on Wednesday, around 20 teachers and a retired principal packed into the front office at Valley View Elementary School — where Liam Conejo Ramos attends prekindergarten — for a briefing before walking home children who live nearby. School officials say several other students and over two dozen parents have been detained.

“We live in a place where ICE is everywhere,” said Rene Argueta, the school’s family liaison. Argueta, himself an immigrant from El Salvador, organized the teachers walking and driving students to and from their homes.

The day before, the group had run into federal officers in the neighborhood at dismissal time. Argueta felt it necessary to calm some of the teachers upset by the encounter.

“Your only goal is to bring the students home, no matter what you see,” he told the group. “We don’t approach ICE. We don’t take out our phones.”

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After distributing walkie-talkies, Argueta and two other teachers met a group of 12 kids waiting for them in the hallway. Argueta took the hand of the youngest child, a boy in prekindergarten, and led the group outside.

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Toward the back of the line, second grade teacher Jenna Scott chatted with a former student, now a third grader. She tried to keep the conversation light.

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“I’m so excited to see your house,” Scott told her.

“Have you signed up for parent-teacher conference?”

“No, miss. ICE,” the girl said.

“I know. Tell your parents you can do it online this time.”

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The third grader then ran to her home. Afterward, Scott said the 10-minute walk is a delicate dance. “You don’t want to scare the kids, but you also want them to walk quickly.”

The day before, Argueta said, they were walking the students home when they heard cars honking to warn that immigration agents were nearby. One little girl who was walking ahead started to panic and ran back toward Argueta.

“ICE viene,” or “ICE is coming,” she yelled.

He took her hand and kept walking. She asked if he was afraid.

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No, he said.

She asked if he had papers, if he was in the country legally. Argueta has a green card and permission to work, but he lied. He told her he didn’t, so she wouldn’t feel alone.

Her hand relaxed in his. She smiled again.

He held her hand until they got to her doorstep and she went inside with her mother.

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The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

ONE of the UK’s first ever American-style shopping centre is set to be demolished after 43 years in business.

The space, which contains multiple vacant units, will be torn down to make way for a new development featuring housing, green spaces, and leisure facilities.

Ridings Shopping Centre in Wakefield will be demolished as part of a city centre revamp, with the local council agreeing to buy the site.

The centre, which first opened in 1983, is now less than two thirds occupied, with the site’s M&S recently announcing its relocation.

Wakefield Council said it also expected Primark to announce plans to leave the site.

Deputy council leader Jack Hemingway explained the authority wanted to create “an economy that’s sustainable and has a future, and that’s why the Ridings has got to change.”

MALL FALL

‘Another blow’ for busy UK shopping centre that’s set to be DEMOLISHED

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SHOPPING MAUL

Retro 60s shopping centre in ‘lifeless’ English town is BULLDOZED

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He revealed the government was providing £17.9 million towards “a once in a generation opportunity to transform the city centre”.

“The Ridings is looking dated now, it’s a shopping centre from the 1980s and high streets are changing and it’s right that we look at that,” he said.

The development to the city’s Cathedral Quarter will include a new public square and green spaces, as well as a cinema, library, museum, and car parking.

In addition to the shopping centre’s demolition, 260 separate flats will also be knocked down.

The council previously backed out of a deal to buy the centre in 2023, when it was purchased by Zahid Iqbal, who has now agreed to sell it for an undisclosed amount.

Regeneration specialist Muse is said to lead the development, which also includes 1,000 new sustainable, affordable, and private homes.

The development is expected to take 10 years to complete, with no date confirmed for the closure of the shopping centre.

Businesses within the shopping centre have been told the council will help them find alternative premises if they plan to stay in Wakefield.

The new Reform councillor was previously a member of the Conservative Party

Reform UK has taken a seat from Plaid Cymru in the party’s north Wales heartlands in a council by-election. Reform now has its first councillor on Isle of Anglesey County Council after Celfyn Furlong was elected as the new councillor for the Ynys Gybi ward.

It comes after Nigel Farage announced Reform’s leader in Wales in Newport on Thursday. Dan Thomas, a former Tory leader of a greater London council who was born in Blackwood, was named as the person who will be leading Reform into May’s Senedd election.

Celebrating his party’s “sensational” by-election victory overnight, the new leader said Reform will be fighting for every single vote “from the former Labour heartlands to the former Plaid heartlands.”

It was a comfortable victory for Reform, with candidate Celfyn Furlong receiving 603 votes compared to Plaid Cymru candidate Bethan Pari Jones’ 343. The turnout for the election was 33.3%.

According to the Isle of Anglesey County Council website, Mr Furlong was a registered member of the Conservative Party from January 1 to May 31, 2025.

The by-election was triggered after long-serving Plaid Cymru councillor and Football Association of Wales (FAW) president Trefor Lloyd Hughes MBE died in November.

In a post made after his victory, newly-elected councillor Furlong paid tribute to Mr Hughes and said that the result sends a “clear message” that “people want change”. Always keep on top of the latest Welsh news with our newsletter

He said: “Before anything else, I want to pay tribute to the late Trefor Lloyd Hughes MBE. A man who gave Ynys Gybi, Ynys Môn and indeed Wales, years of service. A talisman that will never be forgotten. Tonight I accept this seat with respect for his legacy, and with determination to serve the people as he did.

“I am absolutely humbled and honoured to have been elected to represent Ynys Gybi. Thank you to everyone who put their trust in me and to everyone who came out to vote for me.

“This result sends a clear message. People want change, and people want common sense back in local politics.

“A huge thank you to my campaign team, supporters, family and all polling staff. None of this would be possible without you.

“Now the real work begins. I will work hard every day to stand up for our community.

“Ynys Gybi voted Reform. Ynys Gybi will have Reform”

Mr Thomas, the new leader of Reform Wales, said: “This is a sensational victory for Reform, and it shows that we can win absolutely anywhere here in Wales. From the former Labour heartlands to the former Plaid heartlands, we are fighting for every single vote so we can deliver the change Wales desperately needs.”

Here are the full results of the Ynys Gybi by-election:

• BOUNDS, Nick, Green Party: 118
• FURLONG, Celfyn Wyn, Reform: 603 ELECTED
• JOHN, Margaret Fredericka, Conservative: 112
• JONES, Bethan Pari, Plaid Cymru: 343
• ROBERTS, Mary Elizabeth, Labour: 171
• WILLIAMS, Robert, Independent: 26