Dan Thomas (politician)

Daniel Thomas (born c. 1981) is a British politician who has served as the Leader of Reform UK Wales since February 2026. He was previously a Conservative Party councillor in London Borough of Barnet for 19 years.

Thomas was born and raised in the Welsh valleys, originally coming from Blackwood, Caerphilly.^[1] He moved away in 1999 to work in finance.

Thomas served as a Conservative Party councillor on Barnet London Borough Council from 2006 to 2025, serving as leader of the council from 2019 to 2022, and as leader of the opposition Conservative group on the council following 2022.

In the 2010 and 2017 general elections, he was the Conservative parliamentary candidate for Islwyn, coming second both times.^[2]

In the 2016 London Assembly election, he stood as the Conservative candidate for Barnet and Camden.

In 2018 while Dan Thomas was deputy council leader of Barnet, he and the council leader faced calls to resign from the leader of the Labour group on the council, after it came to light that a council worker, who was sentenced to 5 years in prison, had stolen £2 million by fraud from the council while working with Capita between 2016 and 2017.^[3]

Following the birth of his son in summer 2024, he moved away from Barnet and announced he would be standing down from the council in the following year. He defected to Reform UK in June 2025, stating "I joined Reform because of their unwavering commitment to defending British culture, identity, and values."^[4] He later resigned from the council on 31 December 2025, leaving a vacant seat heading into the 2026 election; the timing of the resignation meant a by-election was avoided.^[5]

Thomas was announced as Leader of Reform UK Wales on 5 February 2026.^[2] In that announcement, Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage, said he has "come back to the Valleys, living in Islwyn, come back to his home, and he’s done that because he loves Wales" and that "He’s done that because he wants his children to grow up being Welsh".

However Nation.Cymru reported that a source told it that Thomas had actually moved to Bath, England.^[6] The Standard reported that a former colleague of Thomas in Barnet had told them that Thomas had "moved to the West Country to be closer to his family and raise his children there".^[4] Following speculation in the media about where Thomas lived, Reform UK said "Dan lives in Wales. Any claim to the contrary is entirely false. He lives here in Wales, where he is raising his young family". They also confirmed that he owns property in Bath which is rented out and not his main residence.^[7] On 8 February, Nation.Cymru said that they had been informed that there was no Dan Thomas on the electoral register in the Blackwood area as of December 2025, the area it says he was identified as being present in following a video posted to social media on 7 February. This was discredited when ITV Wales confirmed they had seen proof that Dan Thomas was added to the electoral roll in the Caerphilly borough area in July 2025. A Reform UK spokesperson said "Dan is on the electoral roll here in Wales".^[8]

Thomas has a wife and two young sons, and moved from Barnet in 2024 so that he and his wife could raise their young sons in the countryside and live closer to their families in South Wales.^[2]