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A senior Welsh Conservative Senedd Member has been kicked off his party’s front bench and had the whip removed amid speculation linking him with a switch to Reform UK.

Brecon and Radnorshire MS James Evans was serving as the shadow secretary for health and social care before his dismissal on Tuesday January 20.

Appearing on BBC Wales’s Sunday Politics programme over the weekend, Mr Evans did not dismiss rumours linking him with Reform, having recently said the Conservative Party needed to change.

It comes following the defection of high-ranking Tory MP Robert Jenrick – once seen as a potential Conservative leader – to Nigel Farage’s party.

Mr Jenrick had the party whip removed by UK Tory leader Kemi Badenoch last week after she claimed she had evidence he was planning to join Reform.

Welsh Conservative leader Darren Millar said: “This morning, I took the decision to remove James Evans from the Welsh Conservative shadow cabinet and withdraw the Conservative whip.

“I did so after being informed by James that he was continuing to engage with Reform representatives about the possibility of defecting to the party, in spite of his personal assurances on Friday that he had rejected an approach they initiated last week.”

Mr Millar continued: “Understandably, I expect all Welsh Conservative MSs and candidates to be 100% committed to our party and our plan to fix Wales. Regrettably, James was unable to give me that commitment.”

Mr Evans’s removal from the party leaves the Welsh Conservatives – the current main opposition party – with just 13 seats in Cardiff Bay, the same as Plaid Cymru.

Mr Evans now sits as an independent. But, if he does join Reform, he would become the party’s second representative in Cardiff Bay, following in the footsteps of South Wales East MS Laura Anne Jones, who defected from the Tories last summer.

‘Not a credible party’

At the time of Ms Jones’ defection, Mr Evans told BBC Radio Wales: “I am a firm believer, if you are elected as a Conservative member of the Senedd, you owe it to the electorate, you owe it to your party, to see your term of office out as a Conservative.

“Jumping to Reform, it seems that she doesn’t have any principles.”

He also referred to the party as “the Nigel Farage circus” and said: “They’re not a credible option and they’re not a credible party.”

Speaking about Mr Farage at the time, Mr Evans said: “One minute he’ll come here and say one thing, and then he’ll go somewhere else and say something different.”

‘Britain is broken’

Shortly after 5pm on Tuesday, Mr Evans spoke out on X about the decision to remove the party whip from him, which he said followed his decision to “speak out and challenge the status quo”.

He admitted he had been in talks with Reform, but said those discussions “were mainly about the serious challenges our country faces and the need to ensure we do not end up with a hard left Plaid Cymru / Green Party coalition”.

He continued: “The whip was removed primarily because I raised serious concerns about the refusal of the UK Conservative Party to recognise the reality that our country is broken.”

Parroting Reform’s catchline of ‘Britain is Broken’, Mr Evans said: “I believe Britain is broken. I was asked not to say this and instead to support a position that the UK is not broken. I could not, in all conscience, support a position that I believe is not true.”

He said he will be making a decision on his political future “shortly”, and said his decision will be “based on what is in the best interests of my family, my constituents and the people of Wales”.

‘The biggest recycler of Tories’

A Welsh Labour spokesperson said: “Just this weekend, James Evans was talking about ‘his friend’ Robert Jenrick and now it looks like he’s jumping ship too. Wales is proud of its recycling record, but Reform really are proving themselves to be the biggest recycler of Tories.

“With no Welsh leader, and no Welsh policies, the people of Wales need to ask themselves, is Reform worth the risk?”