The Reform candidate for Caerphilly said people should focus on the ‘substance’ of the letter and not where the person who wrote it is from

Reform UK has sent “misleading” campaign letters to Caerphilly residents ahead of the Senedd by-election, claiming to have been written by a “local” man who actually lives elsewhere. The letters – which are presented in a handwriting font – criticise Welsh Labour and urge people to instead vote for Reform UK.

The views are presented as a letter written by a “local pensioner” named Andrew Russell who says he is reaching out to the “ordinary people of Caerphilly”. The letter is dated as October 23, 2025 – the date of the area’s upcoming Senedd by-election. The by-election has been called following the death of former MS Hefin David.

However WalesOnline has confirmed that although pensioner Mr Russell is a real person he does not live in the Senedd constituency of Caerphilly and therefore cannot vote in the upcoming by-election.

In response Llyr Powell, Reform UK’s Senedd candidate for Caerphilly, said people should focus on the “substance” of the letter and not where the person who wrote it is from. Welsh Labour said it shows that Reform UK “don’t care about Wales”.

The letters, which were delivered earlier this week, read: “Dear Neighbour, Forgive me for writing to you out of the blue, but I think it’s time the ordinary people of Caerphilly spoke up for themselves.

“My name is Andrew and I am a local pensioner. I have worked my whole life, paid taxes and tried to play by the rules.

“Like many of you, I am also a lifelong Labour voter. But what good has it done us?”

In his letter Mr Russell goes on to criticise NHS waiting times and 20mph speed limits.

He continued: “When I first heard Reform leader Nigel Farage say that Labour has failed Wales and enough is enough, it struck a chord… After decades of being taken for granted, I think we should give Reform a chance. I’m asking you to join me and vote Reform UK in Caerphilly on October 23.”

WalesOnline contacted Reform UK in the first instance after a local raised concerns that the letters were “misleading” and that Mr Russell might not be a real person at all.

In response Reform UK provided a picture of Mr Russell, confirming that he does exist.

However when WalesOnline made further inquiries we found strong reason to believe that Mr Russell did not live in the Senedd constituency of Caerphilly and in fact lives in Wattsville, which is in the Islwyn constituency.

When we put this question to Reform UK a spokesman confirmed this to be the case – without meaning to do so.

It appeared that Reform UK and its spokesman did not take into account that Wales is split up differently into its Senedd constituencies and UK Parliament constituencies.

He said: “Wattsville, despite having Newport’s NP postcode, is within the Caerphilly constituency.”

While Wattsville is in the UK Parliament constituency of Caerphilly it is not in the Senedd constituency of Caerphilly.

Rather Wattsville falls under the Senedd constituency of Islwyn. The MS for Islwyn is Welsh Labour’s Rhianon Passmore.

People who live in Islwyn, including Mr Russell, are unable to vote in the Caerphilly Senedd by-election.

On Friday Nigel Farage visited Caerphilly town centre to announce that Mr Powell would be Reform’s candidate standing in the Caerphilly by-election.

When our reporter asked about the letter and the fact that Mr Russell could not actually vote in the upcoming by-election Mr Powell said: “I think people should be focused on what he was saying, not where in the boundary lines he lives.”

Mr Powell went on to say said he was under the impression that the letter didn’t mention the upcoming by-election at all.

When WalesOnline showed him that it did he responded: “I didn’t realise that was added in there but I think it’s still relevant in the sense that the issues that he’s talking about. He wants to express to people here in Caerphilly with what they’re facing that we need change and that’s a clear message.”

Speaking about Mr Russell he said: “He’s a lovely chap who wanted to volunteer his name and write a touching letter about the hardship he’s facing and I hope people focus on what he was saying, not so much on the semantics that the other parties want to talk about of: ‘He’s just outside the borderline’.

“I think that’s really ignoring the substance and this goes back to why I think Cardiff Bay is so deaf…

“I’d ask other people to focus on what he said because I think those are genuine issues facing real people here in Caerphilly and those are the issues Reform UK is going to take on.”

A spokesman for Welsh Labour said: “Reform UK don’t care about Wales and their politics is based on fear and wanting to divide our communities.

“They want to see cuts in terms of waste but what they really mean is cuts to public services.

“Welsh Labour is focusing on the things that matter to people: getting waiting lists down, building more homes, improving local transport, and delivering more local jobs.”

Mr Russell was approached for comment.

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