Welsh darts world champion Gerwyn Price has publicly declared his support for Reform UK Wales ahead of next Thursday’s Senedd election, becoming one of the most high-profile sporting figures to take a political stance in the final days of the campaign.
Price, known to fans as “The Iceman”, is from Markham in Caerphilly and owns a fish and chip shop in his home town. The former darts world number one posted on social media that Plaid Cymru and Labour represented the same politics and urged his followers to back Reform instead – writing: “Plaid is Labour so don’t be fooled – they will work together. We need change, we need Reform UK Wales.”
Reform UK Wales leader Dan Thomas welcomed Price’s backing warmly. He posted: “Thrilled to have the support of the Iceman. From one Valleys boy to another, thank you, Gerwyn. Let’s deliver change for Wales on May 7.”
Price is one of Wales’s most recognisable sporting figures. He won the PDC World Darts Championship in 2021 and has previously held the world number one ranking on three occasions. He is currently ranked world number seven, and this month won the European Darts Grand Prix in Sindelfingen – his tenth European Tour title, making him only the second player in history to reach double figures in European Tour wins after Michael van Gerwen.
Before turning to darts, Price had a notable career in professional rugby, playing as a hooker for Welsh Premier Division sides including Neath and Cross Keys, as well as stints in rugby league with South Wales Scorpions and Blackwood Bulldogs.
He has also been a prominent figure in Welsh darts coverage alongside Llanelli’s Jonny Clayton, with the pair having won the World Cup of Darts twice for Wales – in 2020 and 2023.
This is not the first time Price has publicly backed Reform. Earlier this year he expressed support for the party ahead of the 2025 Caerphilly by-election, and he has made a series of anti-Plaid social media posts in recent months. In one post, he blamed Plaid Cymru for school transport cuts in Caerphilly – despite the council responsible having been under Labour majority control since 2012.
His public support for Reform comes during what has been a volatile final stretch of the campaign. Two major new polls show the race between Plaid Cymru and Reform on a knife-edge, with Wales heading for what pollsters are calling a historic result. The most detailed seat-by-seat modelling to date projects Plaid winning 30 seats, Reform 28, and Labour falling to just 24 – a historic collapse for a party that has governed Wales continuously for 27 years.
Both Labour and Plaid have strongly rejected suggestions that they represent the same political agenda, with Plaid in particular pushing back hard on any characterisation that it would simply replicate Labour’s approach in government.
The endorsement comes with Reform hoping to capitalise on deep dissatisfaction with the political establishment across the Valleys – the very communities Price grew up in. The party has been targeting working-class Welsh communities that have historically voted Labour, and a high-profile sporting endorsement from a Valleys-born world champion carries significant symbolic weight.
The new Senedd will be significantly larger than its predecessor, increasing from 60 to 96 Members. Wales has been divided into 16 larger constituencies, each electing six Members, with voters casting a single vote for a party or independent candidate rather than splitting their vote as in previous elections.
Voters across Wales go to the polls on Thursday 7 May. Swansea Bay News will be covering the results as they come in.
