Cai Parry-Jones interview: 'I didn't get into politics to be a nice little boy'
He has emerged as one of the most prominent, and controversial, of Reform UK's new Senedd Members15:42, 18 Jun 2026Cai Parry-Jones stood in the Senedd on Wednesday to open his first debate in the Parliament. . .
He has emerged as one of the most prominent, and controversial, of Reform UK's new Senedd Members15:42, 18 Jun 2026Cai Parry-Jones stood in the Senedd on Wednesday to open his first debate in the Parliament to which he was elected at his first attempt last month. The topic was his call to stop Wales spending any money internationally. Mr Parry-Jones has already established himself among the most high-profile of Reform UK's new intake. Within days of being elected he criticised the laptops and phone he was given by the Senedd. He also mocked stickers on Senedd hand dryers warning those with autism: "This hand dryer is loud when in use". And he has attacked the flying of the Ukraine flag outside the Senedd. The 29-year-old says he's not just trying to grab attention but is simply challenging the status quo. Reform's newly-appointed shadow cabinet member for finance and government efficiency has submitted seven written questions in his time so far. They include asking about the price paid for laptops used specifically in the Senedd chamber (MSs get issued with two), the specifications of them, and their purpose. The answers arein full on the Senedd websitebut, in summary, the Senedd says the Siambr laptops replaced desktop PCs in the last Senedd terms and are "specifically to enable members to carry out Plenary-related activities while in session including participating in electronic voting, accessing the agenda and associated papers, requesting to speak, and using secure messaging tools". Providing all MSs and some Senedd officials (a total of 105 people including three spares) with 15" Surface Laptop for Business 7th Edition with Intel laptops cost £185,940 and includes an extended parts and labour warranty. He's also asked the Senedd Commission to consider flying an "equal number of Union and Welsh flags on the Senedd estate". The others, for the record, are asking about the criteria for receiving foreign language translation in the WelshNHSand what it costs and the fact he wants GB News reinstated on the Senedd estate after it was banned in the last Senedd. As we meet in the Senedd canteen, in the morning before Reform's two opposition day debates, I ask if he comfortable being seen as a disruptor. "Absolutely," he says. "It's in the name 'Reform'. Reform is about disrupting things, about changing systems. "I think a big part of Reform is to shine the light in areas that previous governments and previous parliaments do not want that light to be shone. "I've stuck by that word and I've revealed things. It doesn't take much time, right?"I spent 10 minutes just being like: 'Why have I got two, almost £2,000 worth, of laptops when I know as an IT professional I can achieve everything I need with a single £600 device?' It just doesn't make sense. "For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation, sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here. The Apple iPhone 17 (with an RRP of £799) he was issued with is, he says, still in the box, after his attempt to return it failed and he is using his own mobile for personal and professional business. "If a Senedd member really does want a free taxpayer-paid smartphone why don't we get them a £200 one because the smartphones today are exceptionally capable? You know, we're not in 2010," he asks. Born onAngleseyMr Parry-Jones grew up on a farm on the island and went toschoolboth on the island and then inBangor. He studied economics at Exeter University and then began working in data, at, he describes a number of tech start-ups in London, and a multinational bank. His LinkedIn CV shows he spent 11 months working for Revolut and had spells at Sliide, which is a mobile experience platform, and Dovetail Games. "I started my career, focused on data, which is a brilliant growing industry. I'm so glad I got involved in that," he says. There are, he explains, three areas of data, being analyst, a scientist, and engineer. It is the latter where he says "the money is at". He goes on: "I loved all of them but the latter one just had more money so naturally I just went towards it but I really do love computers, I love systems. I love thinking in systems – it's really fun. "I also think that's how you can provide the most benefit and I think that that's exactly the same in politics as well. I'm not interested in personalities or: 'This party thinks that or that'. I just want to focus on systems. How can we change this so that it benefits?"He spent four years living in London before going to Cambridge to study for his master's in economics and data science. Part of the reason for that, he admits, was "because I knew I wanted to get into politics and I wanted it to be switched on: 'How can I be most capable in this role?'"He says he had always been interested in politics but it was in 2022-23 he began to look at it seriously. "I've always been interested in politics but I hadn't taken it very seriously to the point where I thought: 'Well I can do this' until I think about 2022-2023. So much nonsense was going on in the world. ," he says. That "nonsense" was, he explains, Brexit. "With Brexit there was a belief that we were going to have control of our borders for example. "We were told by multiple Conservative governments that was going to reduce and rather than it reduce we had just a massive wave where we're seeing a million-plus people enter the country in a single year. "That's just fundamentally not what we voted for and there are arguments where you could say: 'This is a really good thing' but ultimately that's not what we voted for. "He joined Reform UK – the only party he has been a member of – in 2023 because he wants to see what the name of the party promises. "Fundamentally we need to reform the system. We've seen there's tinkering in the centre from the Conservatives and now we're seeing tinkering from theLabourParty and we're just ending up with the same issues as we've got. So there does need to be big changes," he says. "I also like the economic view that Reform has. Right-leaning economics is the way to prosperity – it's the way to getting wealth to everybody including the poorest people in the country," he says. Aged 29 he was far too young to be involved in the votes over the Senedd's existence but says he "generally prefers devolution". "It reduces the centralised power. When you look at the greatest atrocities in the world they come from very strong centralised powers. "You look at China, responsible for nine million deaths with the Great Leap Forward, you look at the USSR, and of course you look Germany in the '30s and '40s. "It was after the 2024 general election he decided to put his name forward to be active in the party. "I just wanted to help the party, essentially, and I thought I could help them in the general election just because I think there were concerns we weren't able to get enough candidates. "I was completely green and I'm glad they didn't pick me to be honest," he says. "I just wanted to do my thing. I'd been doing a lot with my local branch, so I was deputy chair of my branch [Ynys Mon] by the end, and then the director of Wales saw me speak in a certain branch meeting and he said: 'You should really apply to become a Senedd member' and I thought: 'All right – I'll chuck in an application'. "Why, then, did he not stand for his local BangorConwyMôn seat? "The way the Reform candidate selection works is a lot more similar, I would say, to sort of a company rather than a political party in the sense that they want the most talented people, the people who are most capable, to be running the party. "So if you've got multiple people in Ynys Mon who the party deems as very, very capable you could say it's a little bit inefficient to cut one or two of them out. "On Anglesey you've got Helen Jenner, deputy leader, who I think is absolutely phenomenal. "You've got John Clarke who's brilliant and even third place, Richard John Jones, who didn't quite get in, he's absolutely brilliant. "So what about the criticism that he should have been standing in his local area? "I'm very proud to be Welsh so I'm proud to stand for my capital city so I don't think that's an issue. "Cardiffis a very diverse place having knocked on thousands of doors and not one person have I had a conversation with has taken issue with my background. "I've said to people where I've come from. There's some conversations I've literally said I have been parachuted in but they're totally fine with that because they understand that they can clearly tell that I'm listening to them, that they're interested in my policies, and that they think my background is capable of doing good things for them," he says. He has been appointed the party's spokesman on finance and government efficiency and his first debate opening was that Reform UK "supports ending allWelsh Governmentinternational spending". Why, I ask, was that such an early topic for the party to pick?"It's very simple, and I'm surprised that this is controversial, but the budget that's been provided for Wales should be spent in Wales. "We are a country that has – and Labour and Plaid love to mention it – we're a country that has a lot of child poverty. We are a country that has 20% of children leaving primary school functionally illiterate. "There are so many problems we have inside of Wales – I don't understand why we're shovelling some of that cash that we desperately need outside of Wales. "A lot of the arguments are: 'Oh this is only 0. 0-something per cent of the budget – it's a pittance. Like what does it matter?'"Well that's £9. 2m a year – that is the equivalent of 270 fully qualified teachers. That is equivalent of over 100,000 potholes being filled. "That is an equivalent of providing millions of free school meals to the poorest children in Wales and when the finance minister this weekend said she's going to have to make 'very tough decisions' I would rather money being taken out of the international pot," he says. The international spend the party is referring to is the £9. 2m in the 2025-26 central services and administration portfolio which covers "international relations" and "international sustainable development". The budget covers all international activities in Wales including work with regions in Europe, Japan, and Canada, funding to partners, and a programme of diplomatic and international visits to Wales. There is a network of offices abroad which currently includes more than 40 staff members working across 20 offices in 11 countries. It also funds the Wales and Africa programme including the long-discussed tree planting scheme in Uganda at a cost of £270,000 a year. The Welsh Government say its international spending constitutes 0. 031% of the current Welsh Government budget"It's all the money that goes outside of Wales, spending on mini-embassies, to planting trees in Uganda, to whatever they're doing with the solar-powered canoes. It's ultimately a principle – once you understand that position it becomes quite clear," says Mr Parry-Jones. "The devolved Welsh budget should be spent in Wales. "There is also an international aid budget that Westminster spends and they spend quite a lot of money on it, that is doing that job, so it doesn't really make sense that we're also doing that job. It's doubling up. "I put it to him that Reform UK could have picked its early debate topics to be any number of things – health, education, or poverty – but it chose this the day after a question fromone its members was criticised as being "dangerous". "We had 29% of the Welsh electorate vote for us and we were very clear on our position on international spending and having conversations with people on the doorstep it was one of the big things that they thought was just unacceptable so I'm just standing up for the thoughts of the people who voted for us. "It's also important to remember that this isn't the only debate we're having today. "We've got a debate on a lobbyist register. Again this is a core part of Reform – we believe that transparency is essential and that's going to add more visibility to a bit of a dodgy area potentially. "We're going to be raising other debates around around issues that you've mentioned. "But again I go to the fact that some say: 'It's a very small percentage – what does it matter'?' It matters a lot because it's £9. 2m and it actually does matter. "But there's a second point which is criticising smaller spending does create, then, a culture where other smaller spendings from other people that I might not be aware of go: 'Well, Cai called us out on that and, fair point, all right, maybe I should think a little longer before I spend X million or X thousands of pounds on something that If scrutinised would be looked poorly upon. "When you have thousands of people making those small decisions they add up to a massive pot and that pot can go into solving things like you've mentioned the NHS waiting lists et cetera". He is not, he says, afraid of making a name for himself early on. "I absolutely am marking myself out. I made a data request of my own personal data and what was revealed to me was that people in the [Senedd] Commission were having conversations about my social media posts," he says. "But, you know, I am totally fine with that. I didn't get into politics to be a nice little boy in the corner who just behaves. I'm here to really make a difference and hopefully spend taxpayers' money most appropriately. "It does not worry him, he says. "That is who I am. You can ask any of my bosses and they will tell you: 'Cai is a questioner, a doer. Cai is someone who's going to get to the bottom of things. ' And I think that's ultimately what people want from their politicians. "They don't want someone who is just going to quietly sit in the corner and behave they want someone whose going to disrupt things and ask difficult questions," he says. "If I'd sent those social media posts before I was a Senedd member nobody would care. But now, suddenly, yourself and other people who have a very big readership are asking questions about it. "He is five weeks into his new career and admits he "absolutely loves it". "I see the opportunities but I want to make sure that I take them and that's why I'm going at seemingly a fast pace right at the start," he says. His posts have generated debate but also criticism. Has that got to him?"I think if I didn't have critics I wouldn't be doing my job right. And also having listened to the critics the arguments are not strong," he says. What is, I ask, his long-term goal?Article continues below"My hope is to make a very positive contribution to Wales and the wider United Kingdom. I want to sit back, 80 years old, on one of those recliners and go: 'You know what, I did make a difference and I am proud of myself'. "I'm not here to play around and play party politics. "