Member of the Senedd for Pontypridd Cynon Merthyr. Shadow Minister Economy & Transport. Chair, Senedd Petitions Committee. Reform UK

United Kingdom
Joined March 2021
Proud and thrilled to announce that I’ve been called to serve the constituency of Pontypridd Cynon Merthyr. Watch the video, leave your thoughts, but be assured, you will not find a harder working candidate. The campaign starts now.
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David Hughes and I spent the morning with Merthyr Valley Veterans Association. Always a pleasure to spend time with our veterans and the local community.
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Jason O’Connell MS 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🇬🇧 retweeted
"Reform's alternative budget released today includes many proposals that will finally get Britain's economy growing again. Abolishing the Energy Profits Levy will play a crucial role in ensuring the country's energy security, which a recent ASI index ranked below Romania and Ukraine. Windfall taxes undermine the incentive on firms to be ready to drill when prices are high: without them, the UK's domestic energy supply will be far more secure, and the country will be less vulnerable to price hikes and energy crises. It will also lower electricity costs at a time of eye-wateringly high energy prices, which will cost the average family an extra £206 in the coming year. The alternative budget's proposals will also give a desperately needed boost to housebuilding. Leaving the Aarhus convention, which paralyses planning reviews and raises costs for developers, will make it easier and faster to build new homes. Repealing Biodiversity Net Gain rules will also reduce costs and delays for housebuilders, 94% of which have been hit by delays due to the rule. Taken together, these changes will mean more houses are built faster and for a lower cost - which will go a long way to solving Britain's housing crisis. If done right, planning deregulation like those proposed by this alternative budget could single-handedly raise long-run GDP by 7.05% - a rise of almost £3,000 per person." - Silvia Andreoletti, Head of Communications
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Jason O’Connell MS 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🇬🇧 retweeted
🚨 Confirmed: Reform will build the M4 Relief Road.
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Plaid Cymru may be content to betray the families searching for justice from the Covid Inquiry, but we won’t be backing down. I will keep raising this issue and pushing for the answers and accountability the people of Wales deserve. This isn’t about politics, it’s about fairness, justice and a Wales that has to look within and answer the difficult questions if we’re to learn from what happened.
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The country has never needed a Reform government more than now. We’re in touching distance of economic catastrophe, spend spend spend Burham’s day of financial reckoning will be here sooner than he would want.
Britain is broke. And to fix it, we need to start growing again. That’s why Reform’s Economic Rescue Plan includes these 64 pro-growth measures I’d take if I were Chancellor: 𝗨𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗦𝗲𝗮 1. Approve Rosebank 2. Restart oil and gas licensing 3. Legalise onshore exploration 4. Abolish the Energy Profits Levy 5. Restore maximum economic extraction as the North Sea regulator's objective 𝗥𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻 6. Abolish the Emissions Trading Scheme 7. Halt the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism 8. Repudiate AR7 contracts for difference and scrap AR8 9. Implement the Fingleton Review on nuclear in full 10. Automatically approve French and South Korean nuclear designs 𝗚𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗛𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗖𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 11. Cut affordable housing requirements on brownfield sites 12. Permitted Development Right for brownfield housing 13. Repeal Biodiversity Net Gain 14. Exit the Aarhus Convention 15. Repeal and reform the Habitats Regulations, including Nutrient Neutrality 16. End the boiler ban 17. Legalise air conditioning to meet overheating rules 18. Remove mandatory EPC improvements 19. Revoke the Future Homes Standard 20. Repeal the Renters' Rights Act 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 21. Legislate approval for new runways at Heathrow and Gatwick 22. Auction airport landing slots 23. End 'target-consistent' carbon pricing in project evaluation 24. Ban carbon emissions considerations in planning applications 25. Fast-track all water reservoirs as nationally significant projects 26. Make Development Consent Orders a true one-stop shop 27. Restrict judicial review of ministerial planning decisions 28. Scrap Net Zero construction rules 29. Scrap the social value test in procurement 30. Lift launch limits at SaxaVord Spaceport 31. Open completed sections of East-West Rail 𝗝𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗜 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 32. Review regulatory barriers to AI adoption 33. Permit on-site gas generation for data centres and industry 𝗥𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗛𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀 34. Cut Employer NI back to 13.8% 35. Introduce a migrant worker levy 36. Repeal the Employment Rights Act 37. Clarify that workplace rights don't require mandatory training courses 38. Let experienced tradesmen work on government contracts without CSCS qualifications 𝗨𝗻𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗘𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝘆 39. Review bank capital requirements to boost lending 40. Rule out Net Zero in financial regulators' remits 41. Repeal climate-related financial disclosure rules 𝗚𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗠𝗼𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝗠𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 42. Scrap airport 'surface access strategies' 43. Abolish the electric vehicle mandates 44. Apply domestic GB hours to all UK HGV trips 45. Ban Low-Traffic Neighbourhoods 46. Back the M4 Relief Road 47. Move a new car's first MOT to four years 48. Abolish the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation 𝗨𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗕𝗿𝗲𝘅𝗶𝘁 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗼𝗺𝘀 49. Replace GDPR with a New Zealand-style Privacy Act 50. Fully re-legalise Imperial units 51. Review all unchanged EU law 52. Automatically repeal remaining EU law in 5 years unless retained 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 53. Make quarterly Making Tax Digital reporting voluntary 54. Reduce legal obligations on SME Non-Executive Directors 55. Double permission-free event days from 28 to 56 56. Make pavement dining licences automatic and permanent 57. Let shops open until 10pm, except Sundays 58. Repeal board diversity and inclusion rules 59. Remove the Sustainable Aviation Fuel mandate 60. Abolish the packaging tax 61. Scrap BBC and Channel 4 priority on streaming platforms 62. Remove the Public Sector Equality Duty 63. Five-year sunset on all QUANGOs 64. Five-year sunset clause on all new regulations And there are more to come! Britain’s full potential is waiting to be unleashed 🚀
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People, including children and young people, have reportedly been using the grass verge alongside the main road as a shortcut between Tesco and Trecynon. I went down to see the situation for myself, and I’ll be writing to the council to raise these concerns and ask what can be done to make this area safer. There may be a number of possible solutions, but the views of local people need to be heard
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Jason O’Connell MS 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🇬🇧 retweeted
It has not been ‘claimed’. It’s a fact. Anyone aiding and abetting the illegal immigration racket in this country should be imprisoned for a long stretch, have their business shut down, be banned from ever running a business in the UK again and if a foreign national, be deported alongside those they brought in via the loophole. This would swiftly put an end to those exploiting our system.
Chicken shops are creating a “visa loophole” for migrants to enter the country, it has been claimed. More than 3,600 takeaway shops in Britain are eligible to sponsor skilled worker visas, government data show. 🔗: telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/10…
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Something special is happening in France. A national resurgence of hope for the future, and if the last few weeks are to go by, they need this movement to succeed more than ever.
🇫🇷 Ils pensaient vous intimider, vous dissuader de venir : vous êtes aujourd’hui des milliers rassemblés à Orléans porter l’espoir de la renaissance du pays. Vous êtes l’espérance française ! #Marine2027
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Turn out reflects just how highly this community regards Darren! 19th Nov, let’s get Darren elected to Council and start the process of renewal
🚨 What a turn out for my campaign today 👌🏻 Big thanks to everyone 👏🏻 @DanWalesReform @cllr_thomas @LauraMonTorfaen @jason_oco
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Jason O’Connell MS 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🇬🇧 retweeted
Grooming gangs- I asked the Councel General if the Welsh Government has the legal power to hold its own inquiry into how devolved services failed women and children in Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 #wales #swansea #newport #GroomingGangs #gower
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What’s been uncovered in the River Taff is unacceptable. People deserve clean, healthy rivers and those responsible for pollution must be held to account.
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Jason O’Connell MS 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🇬🇧 retweeted
11 months ago @RhunapIorwerth promised us a Wales Covid Inquiry 🧐 @DafyddTrystan @mabonapgwynfor @Heledd_Plaid @Sioned_W @PeredurPlaid @LlyrGruffydd @DelythJewellAM @LSRPlaid @Adamprice can you please remind him. We’re all decent people and we don’t like this style of politics at all. Be better. @natasghar @jason_oco @markjhooper @as_penarth @DarrenMillarMS @HelenJennerMS @WillHayCardiff @DeansOfCardiff @adavies4 @ShiptonMartin
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Today is Wear It Pink, an important opportunity to raise awareness of breast cancer and show our support for all those affected. It’s also a chance to recognise the families, friends and loved ones who stand alongside those going through it. Proud to support this important cause.
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The Muslim Council of Wales and Plaid Cymru have tried to silence us. We will not be intimidated, bullied or silenced. Reform will stand behind a ban on balaclavas and burkas. #Reformwales #ReformUK
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Jason O’Connell MS 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🇬🇧 retweeted
STATEMENT: Reform UK has reported ITV, its board, and its undercover reporters to the police. Some of the crimes carry up to 10 years in prison. They forged a passport. They directly interfered in elections and almost certainly altered the results. Being paid to “canvass” for Reform in crucial wards we lost by a few dozen votes. They lied to a veteran about their service and left him “violated”. This is unprecedented. The police are now involved. Scrutiny of political parties is one thing. But anyone breaking the law to try and ruin the lives of Reform’s staff, members or volunteers will be reported to the police and pursued relentlessly in the courts. Here’s what happened 👇
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Proud and honoured to lay a wreath on behalf of myself and David Hughes MS at the Aberfan Memorial. It was a deeply moving moment to represent the communities of Pontypridd, Cynon and Merthyr as we came together to remember those who lost their lives and all those forever affected by the Aberfan disaster. They will never be forgotten.
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Today, we remember the 116 children and 28 adults who lost their lives in the Aberfan disaster. We remember the families, the community, and all those whose lives were changed forever. They will never be forgotten.
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Jason O’Connell MS 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🇬🇧 retweeted
On paye des décennies de désarmement de notre police. Nous incarnons, dans les positions que nous exprimons, la France de l'ordre : notre priorité sera de rétablir l'ordre et la sécurité, avec un soutien indéfectible aux forces de l'ordre.
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Today’s event is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Penrhiwceiber and Matthewstown war memorial. A lovely service and a fitting tribute to those souls that made the ultimate sacrifice from this valley community.
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Jason O’Connell MS 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🇬🇧 retweeted
Hiding your face in public has no place in Britain. France, Belgium, Denmark, Austria and Switzerland have already introduced bans on full-face coverings in public places. Under a Reform UK government, Britain will join them. southwalesargus.co.uk/news/2…
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