Senedd Conservative Ousted After Reform UK Defection Talks

A prominent Welsh Tory is being kicked out of his party for telling his party leader he was thinking about defecting to Reform UK. James Evans has been removed from the shadow cabinet and had the whip withdrawn making him an independent, Tory Senedd leader Darren Millar has said. Millar said he did so on Tuesday morning "after being informed by James that he was continuing to engage with Reform representatives about the possibility of defecting to the party in spite of his personal assurances on Friday that he had rejected an approach they initiated last week". In a statement, Evans confirmed he was being ousted from the party which he said no longer represents his values.