The latest Tory to defect to Reform, Welsh Senedd member James Evans, called the party \u201cnot a serious party\u201d only a few months ago.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In a recent TV debate<\/a>, Evans slammed Reform for making \u201cunfunded, unrealistic promises\u201d to voters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n He said: \u201cUnfortunately what we see from Reform UK is unfunded, unrealistic promises to the electorate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Evans added that Nigel Farage\u2019s party had had to roll back on all their economic policies and tax cuts because they\u2019re unfunded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He also said that Reform did not have policies on education or the NHS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey are not a serious party,\u201d he said, before claiming \u201cthey\u2019re a socialist party in all but name, they\u2019re not a party on the right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Evans also said: \u201cThe problem we see with Reform is that every policy they announce, after a couple of days when it goes through the litmus test and the public don\u2019t like it, they water it down and it disappears.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Senedd member for Brecon and Radnorshire said this had happened over Reform\u2019s policy to reopen the blast furnaces in Port Talbot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In reality, Farage never outlined how he would do this and admitted it would be difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Senedd member also criticised Reform for wanting to privatise the NHS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last July<\/a>, he wrote on X: “They\u2019d have everyone paying insurance before you know it, leaving people who can\u2019t afford it, especially older and sicker people, to suffer in pain or die without care.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Evans\u2019 position appears to have shifted dramatically in recent months. Last month, he was sacked by the Tories over suspicions that he was planning to defect, and now he has joined Reform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At today\u2019s Reform press conference in Wales, Farage announced that former Conservative council leader Dan Thomas as Reform UK\u2019s leader in Wales ahead of the May Senedd elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thomas will become the party\u2019s first leader in Wales since Nathan Gill, who was sentenced to ten and a half years in prison last November for accepting bribes to make pro-Russia statements in the European Parliament and media interviews. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n \r\n\r\n\r\nLeft Foot Forward doesn’t have the backing of big business or billionaires. We rely on the kind and generous support of ordinary people like you. \r\n \r\nYou can support hard-hitting journalism that holds the right to account, provides a forum for debate among progressives, and covers the stories the rest of the media ignore. Donate today.\r\n\r\n<\/em>\r\n<\/P>\r\n