Former Reform party candidate Arron Banks has been called out after questioning whether a young black community organiser could be Welsh. 

As reported by Nation Cymru, the Plaid Cymru campaign video shows the organiser, Bashir, urging people to vote for Plaid Cymru to stop Reform.

Banks shared the video with the caption, “Welsh lad?”.

Liz Saville Roberts, Plaid Cymru’s leader in Westminster, responded to Banks, saying: “Reform donor and 2025 candidate for the West of England mayoral election thinks black people can’t be Welsh.

“Racism is rife within Reform. We must stop them from being the largest party in the Senedd.”

Banks did not donate to Reform, but bankrolled the pro-Brexit campaign group Leave EU, and also donated to Nigel Farage’s old party UKIP. 

A political source who contacted Nation Cymru said: “What Banks has stated is a hate crime. Plaid should really be reporting it to the police.”

It’s not the first time that Banks has been accused of making racist comments online.

Last year, during the West of England mayoral campaign, Banks stood by a tweet he posted in 2017, in which he called Bristol “little Somalia”. 

Asked about the tweet by BristolLive, he said: “It’s not to say all Somalians are bad people, but in the same way that Romanians are at the forefront of criminal activities in most cities, certainly Somalians in Bristol are at the forefront of crime in Bristol.”

Banks also claimed that Home Office statistics showed that the Somalian community was 10 times more likely to commit serious crime than other communities. 

However, the Home Office confirmed that crime conviction statistics did not record the nationality of those convicted.

In another post from January 2025, Banks referred to Tory MPs James Cleverly and Ben Obese-Jecty as “diversity hires”.

He wrote: “I am wondering why every British Army diversity hire ends up as a Tory MP. “Not so” Cleverly MP & now this bloke.”

Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward

The post Reform’s Arron Banks questions whether a black person can be Welsh appeared first on Left Foot Forward: Leading the UK's progressive debate.

Plaid Cymru is on track to become the largest party in the Senedd elections on 7 May, and just six short of the 49 needed for a majority.

According to YouGov’s first MRP model poll for the Senedd elections, Plaid Cymru is projected to win 43 out of 96 seats in the Welsh Parliament, thereby ousting Labour from government in Wales. 

The poll, conducted by YouGov, found that right now, the current voting intention of people for the Senedd is as follows: 

Senedd voting intention:

• Plaid Cymru – 33 (-4)
• Reform UK – 27 (+4)
• Welsh Labour – 13 (+3)
• Wales Green Party – 12 (-1)
• Welsh Conservatives – 7 (-3)
• Welsh Liberal Democrats – 5 (n/c)
• Others 4 – (+2)

Plaid, alongside the Greens or Labour, would command a majority in the Senedd. However, Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth said in January that he would prefer to form a minority Plaid government over a coalition with another party.

According to the poll, Labour is expected to lose 32 seats, leaving them with 12 seats and a 23% drop in their vote share. 

The current first minister, Labour’s Eluned Morgan, is expected to lose her seat.

Meanwhile, Reform UK, which won 1% of the vote in the 2021 Senedd elections, is projected to win 30 seats.

The Conservatives and the Lib Dems are facing  potential wipeouts, with the former projected to hold on to just one seat, while the Lib Dems may not win any. 

YouGov’s new MRP methodology uses data on how people plan to vote at a constituency level, which accounts for tactical voting, to estimate how a party is likely to perform nationally.

Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward

The post Plaid Cymru on course to be the largest party in the Senedd, according to new poll appeared first on Left Foot Forward: Leading the UK's progressive debate.