Yuliia Bond handles two jobs, raises two children, and is studying at university. This past fall, she made time to take on Reform UK when it sought to secure the Caerphilly constituency byelection.
Bond, a refugee from Ukraine who has made a home in south Wales, stated she was unable to remain silent as Reform aimed to win the seat in the Senedd, the parliament of Wales.
“Members of our Ukrainian community spoke up,” Bond commented. “We challenged the disinformation because we didn’t want our neighbours from being misled into feeling anger towards us. I didn’t want people becoming hostile to us because of lies. So I spoke up and others followed suit.
“Reform UK attempted to generate fear and division with tactics used not only in the UK, but by right-wing political parties all over Europe and across the world. The rhetoric they used in Caerphilly didn’t feel local. They felt imported – like someone replicated a script from another country and dropped it through our doors.”
A Confident Campaign Meets Community Resistance
The party, led by Nigel Farage, was confident it could claim victory in the byelection, especially as Labour, the historically strong party in Wales for a century, seemed to be in freefall. An energetic campaign by the Welsh nationalists, Plaid Cymru – and individuals such as Bond – kept out the rightwing party.
“Their greatest mistake was presuming that people here have little critical thinking,” Bond argued. “They thought nobody would check the facts. They believed that refugees are not just in need, but somehow stupid. That is incorrect. We may have fled a war, but we are not naive. We understand policies.”
One of Reform’s central claims was that the Welsh government’s sanctuary nation scheme showed both it and Plaid supported a “mass immigration agenda” and that “those seeking asylum” were receiving “preferential treatment”. The claim was unfounded – more than 80% of the sanctuary funds had been spent on supporting Ukrainian refugees.
Bond commented: “When I read the leaflets, all I could see was a blatant attempt to create division, to scapegoat a small group, and stoke hate in a place that had been hospitable to us.
“It didn’t work in Caerphilly because the Ukrainian community and refugees from various backgrounds are not outsiders. We are integrated into the community. People are familiar with us.
“They see us at school gates, in shops, at work, giving our time. They know what we contribute. The portrayal in the leaflet simply didn’t match reality. Most residents could sense that something wasn’t right. It felt like deception, not truth.”
The Result and Lasting Lessons
Bond was interviewed in the “gratitude orchard” in Caerphilly, planted by members of the Ukrainian community as a token of appreciation for the warm welcome they have received.
She said the arrival of Reform had put pressure on Ukrainian people in the area. “Vulnerable people should not have to carry this burden. Yet, during the election, we had to raise our voices first. Only later did support come – from local residents, politicians from various parties, and local media.”
There are full Senedd elections in May when Reform has hopes of the largest party in Wales.
Bond said people opposing Reform in Wales in May and in other elections across the UK must challenge the party’s messages swiftly and with conviction.
“As a Ukrainian, I know how dangerous disinformation can be. The war in Ukraine did not start with weapons. It started with disinformation, biased information and lies that prepared the ground for violence.
“Disinformation must be countered promptly, strongly and clearly, because hate travels faster than facts. The two months of that byelection were truly exhausting. We just had to survive it. But we survived together, and that is why the campaign of division was unsuccessful in Caerphilly.”
The Winning Strategy’s Perspective
For Lindsay Whittle, the successful Plaid candidate, the period following the byelection was a blur. Attention from the public was immense.
Whittle said both Reform campaigners and their opponents had believed the party might win decisively. She said: “The thought was that they’d spend vast amounts of money and beat us.”
So how did they stop the political force? One reason, Whittle believes, is that Plaid ran an positive, optimistic campaign. “Avoid attacking anyone personally because people don’t like that. Keep the message positive. Try and unite people.
“People in Caerphilly have friends of various nationalities and they don’t like people threatening their friends. Voters understand that without certain people coming to this country, you’re not going to have an NHS or social care. I think Reform underestimated the people of Caerphilly.”
While Whittle featured on the front pages, an intense grassroots campaign was under way in the background. Dedicated party members knocked on thousands of doors.
“We think it was the most important byelection we’ve ever contested,” one campaigner said. The victory was attributed to good policies – and people who are passionate about them passionately.
Local Observations and Expert Analysis
A local editor was surprised at how divisive the campaign was. “We had communities turning on each other, campaign posters removed, really sharp debates online. I was raised in this area and I know everyone’s lovely so to see that side come out was a surprise.”
The decisive moment is believed to have been a televised debate when an audience member confronted the Reform candidate, stating that people with family members not born in the UK did not feel welcome since Reform had arrived.
“That was someone from our community who had a mixed race family explicitly stating the impact all this language had,” the editor said. “Caerphilly may not be the most multicultural of places but we’ve always been open to people from overseas. That was the turning point.”
A politics lecturer and native of the area provided a particular perspective on the byelection.
He said Plaid was extremely successful in presenting the election as a straight two-horse race – but this will be harder at the Senedd elections in May when a new proportional system is introduced.
“It tended to be somewhat uninformed or, at times, patronising. But Caerphilly isn’t some post-industrial wasteland uncritically accepting whatever political winds blow from England – it has its own political traditions and, like Wales more broadly, it has its own character and can’t simply be read through the perspective of what is happening in England. It was gratifying to see my home town confound those simplistic assumptions.”
