Unmistakeable in his mustard-coloured corduroy trousers, tweed jacket, broad-checked shirt and tie, Nigel Farage cut a distinctive figure as he made his way up Merthyr Tydfil High Street.
With the man he selected to be Reform UK’s Wales leader, the former London Conservative councillor Dan Thomas walking next to him in a blue suit, the Clacton MP revelled in the attention coming his way.
“Farage is fabulous. We need him. We absolutely need him. He seems such a good person and he is all for small businesses” said elated shop-owner Penny Fisher, 61.
Read more: Senedd Election battle set to come down to the wire – poll
The streets of Merthyr Tydfil had seemed quiet on Thursday morning before Mr Farage’s arrival, with little sign that one of the country’s most recognisable politicians was about to arrive in town.
Once word spread that the Reform UK leader was in town, the streets became much busier, with people hailing the well-known politician through shop windows and doorways.
After speaking to reporters, Mr Farage made his way up Merthyr Tydfil’s High Street, first popping into the Haystack cafe, and then into the shopping centre, before grabbing himself some baby potatoes from the greengrocer. Get the latest news headlines from around Wales delivered free to your email inbox every day by signing up to or our free newsletter here.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage smiles with his bag of potatoes from a Merthyr greengrocer(Image: Getty Images)
Lots of Merthyr locals were stopping Mr Farage in the street for selfies, and each business owner that the celebrity politician spoke to echoed the hope that Reform will “save” their small businesses.
They shared concerns over crippling taxes and said that with Mr Farage, they finally feel as though they are being heard.
Ms Fisher, from Wenvoe, was elated to see Mr Farage and could barely contain her excitement. She runs The Card Post, alongside her ex-husband. Ms Fisher said she had always voted Conservative, but in the Senedd election on May 7, she is voting for Reform.
Penny Fisher from the Card Post Shop is now displaying a sign which reads “Vote Reform” in her shop window.(Image: Rob Browne/WalesOnline)
“Farage is fabulous. We need him. We absolutely need him. He seems such a good person and he is all for small businesses.
“We’ve got a small business and it’s hard with Labour. Reform have got great policies, and that’s why I’m voting for them.
“They are going to lower taxes for us. And, I think they will.”
Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, speaks to a supporter(Image: Getty Images)
Mr Farage stopped for many selfies as his made his way through the town centre(Image: Rob Browne/WalesOnline)
“I have never voted Labour in my life, I never ever ever would. I have always voted Conservative, but, as soon as Nigel Farage came on the scene, I thought yeah, definitely. I love all his policies and I think he is going to get in. I know he is.”
Despite the large amount of support shown towards Mr Farage, not everyone was best pleased to see him.
Ash, 31, from Aberdare shouted the word “racist!” out of the door of the barber shop he was getting his hair cut in, as Mr Farage walked past.
Ash said: “He is a racist though, isn’t he? He targets all the immigrants, and illegal immigrants, with the same brush. I don’t think he is right at all.
Ash, 31, called Nigel Farage a racist(Image: WalesOnline)
“I think a lot of the people who support him are being narrow minded. They just listen to what the majority are saying, and just agree with them.
“I wouldn’t vote for him at all. There is so much negative press about illegal immigrants coming over on boats, which is wrong, that shouldn’t be happening, but they are spoiling it for the immigrants that are coming here on visas, to do right by this country.”
Ellie and Ella, both 18, said they “don’t like Nigel Farage at all.”
Ellie said: “If you look around, how many illegal immigrants do you see on a daily basis [in Merthyr]? There are none.
Ellie and Ella, both 18, say they will be voting for Plaid Cymru(Image: WalesOnline)
“The whole thing about Reform is about immigration, but, in Wales it is not even a devolved power, so they’d have no control over immigration anyway.”
Mr Farage is an MP at Westminster who is not standing at this election and the party’s Wales leader Mr Thomas is a candidate in the Casnewydd Islwyn constituency.
The party’s list in Pontypridd, Cynon Merthyr is headed by Jason O’Connell, who lives about an hour away from the constituency, in Torfaen. Also with the group in Merthyr was the party’s lead candidate in Sir Fynwy Torfaen, the former Conservative MS Laura Anne Jones.
Lead Reform candidate for Pontypridd Cynon Merthyr Jason O’Connell (Image: Rob Browne/WalesOnline)
Laura Anne Jones embraces leader of Reform UK Nigel Farage(Image: Getty Images)
Asked about criticism of the way the party had handled the selection process, with its former leading figure in Wales Caroline Jones saying she felt betrayed, Mr Farage brushed it off saying it “wasn’t an issue”.
He said: “People throw themselves into politics, they’re ambitious, they all assume they’re going to get into winnable positions and some people who were lower on the list didn’t like their positions.
“That’s life. Not an issue. They weren’t in winnable positions.”
Mr Farage told reporters Reform is “in it to win it” in Wales. Mr Farage said success in the Senedd election on May 7 looks like “doing as well as we possibly can”.
Dan Thomas, Reform Wales’ leader followed Nigel Farage around Merthyr(Image: PA)
Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage, visited Merthyr on Thursday in the run-up to the Senedd election in Wales.(Image: Rob Browne/WalesOnline)
Plaid Cymru and Reform have topped recent opinion polls in Wales, with Welsh Labour forecast to lose its grip on the Senedd after more than two decades.
On Thursday, Mr Farage told reporters: “I want us to win, and we aim to win. I’m not going to predict we are, but we’re aiming to win, absolutely.”
“It’s now a fight (over) who comes first in these elections,” he added.
“And it’s a fight between us and Plaid, as Labour, despite their enormous history here going back over a century, are not even in contention.
“Are we going to win? Well, you know what, we’re going to try to.”
Speaking at Reform’s Welsh manifesto launch in March, the party leader said there would be a published list of costings to follow.
The vote takes place in three weeks, which Mr Farage described as an “absolute age in terms of an election”.
“It’s a straight fight,” he added. “We’re in it to win it.”