A woman explained to a Reform candidate in the Caerphilly by-election how his party’s rhetoric had made her family feel “unwelcome” in the area.
On Wednesday evening, candidates in the by-election took part in a BBC debate ahead of voting next week.
The election is expected to be hotly-contested, with Reform in a close race with Plaid Cymru to win the seat, which had previously been held by Labour.
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Nigel Farage was full of praise for the performance of Reform candidate Llŷr Powell, sharing a clip of him attacking Plaid Cymru.
But there’s one clip from the debate that you won’t see any Reform higher-ups sharing, as one woman in the audience decided to lay bare the toxic impact the party’s anti-migrant rhetoric is having in the real world.
After her son asked how immigration was affecting Caerphilly specifically, the woman said their father is “part of the 2.9% that you [Reform] say are taking over Caerphilly.”
As Powell tried to protest, the woman pointed out how Reform persistently talk about how immigration is taking over the country.
She continued: “We’ve lived here all our lives and I have never felt so unwelcome in my own home town as I do since your party came into Caerphilly, with all the rhetoric that you bring in.
“I have to say to my sons ‘please don’t go there, please don’t do this’, and quite frankly Mr Powell, I blame you for that.”
In a post on X, one person said: “There was an awkward moment where a member of the audience with two young sons said she blamed Llyr Powell for her family feeling unwelcome in Caerphilly. I expect Reform won’t be sharing that clip – so here it is…”