Voters are rightly angry and disappointed about lots of complex issues at the moment, but be wary of a protest vote for extremists. A shocking number of Reform candidates have been mired in scandal, with one leading candidate even acting as a cheerleader for Vladimir Putin. Please don’t put our country’s national security at risk.

Before publishing their list of candidates, Reform UK boasted about robust vetting procedures, but their list reveals the sorts of people they are content to put forward as Senedd Members, some of whom are unfit for elected office.

A Reform candidate in North Wales has been exposed as a cheerleader for Vladimir Putin, blaming Nato for the war in Ukraine and praising the Russian dictator. We need Senedd Members who are going to stand up for their communities, not advocate for brutal dictators like Putin.

The party’s lead candidate in Pen-y-bont Bro Morgannwg (Vale of Glamorgan and Bridgend) was forced to resign after a photo emerged of him giving a Nazi salute. The context for this was unclear, but there is no excuse for immature and offensive actions like this.

Multiple Reform candidates have already resigned and given a unique insight into their candidates, many of whom could be MSs in a few weeks’ time. One said, “they’re motivated by the Senedd salary, the perks, the pension, the title, and protecting their own power, money and self-interest.” He also said Reform candidates had a “lack of discipline”, suggesting the new Reform group could be a basket case in the Senedd, similar to the circus of UKIP from 2016-2021, when six of the seven MSs, which included Neil Hamilton and Nathan Gill (now in prison for taking illegal Russian bribes), ended up defecting to other parties. A candidate in Gŵyr Abertawe (Swansea and Gower) also quit saying Reform had “sunk deep into the sewer when it should have been a beacon of decency.”

These scandals all show a party mired in internal disputes, with inexperienced and unsuitable candidates. Putting these people into positions of power is a risk to our country’s national security and will give Wales weak representation in the Senedd at a time when we need a strong united team to fight on our behalf – to oppose steps to Welsh independence and build a stronger economy. As tempting as it might be to register a protest vote, please think of who you are actually voting for and whether they have your best interests at heart.