Senedd politician Laura Anne Jones has defected from the Conservatives to Reform, party leader Nigel Farage has announced.

Jones becomes the party’s first Member of the Senedd (MS) and is Reform’s highest profile defection in Wales.

She said she could no longer justify Conservative policies on the doorstep, and that her former party found out she was leaving as the press conference was unfolding.

The announcement prompted anger among Welsh Tories – Senedd Conservative leader Darren Millar said voters in her region of South Wales East will feel “very let down by her announcement”.

The defection comes just under a year since Jones apologised for using a racist slur about Chinese people in a WhatsApp chat.

She has been investigated by the Senedd’s standards commissioner Douglas Bain, a probe believed to be related to allegations of bullying by a senior member of staff.

Hinting that she is about to be cleared, Jones said she has seen the report and is confident “with the outcome”.

A police investigation into complaints about her expenses found “no evidence of fraudulent activity”.

Recent polls have suggested Reform has a chance of being the largest party at next May’s Senedd election.

Tuesday’s news follows the decision of former Conservative Welsh Secretary David Jones to join Reform and weeks of speculation that the party was trying to persuade an MS to join.

Jones’s former staff member, Ed Sumner, has been working as Reform’s director of communications for several months.

Laura Anne Jones had spoken for the Conservatives on Local Government, Housing and the Armed Forces, and has regularly criticised the Welsh government’s approach to transgender people.

Speaking at the Royal Welsh Show in Llanelwedd, Jones said: “I’ve just suddenly felt that the Conservative Party was unrecognisable to me. It wasn’t the party that I joined over three decades ago.”

She said Reform “is listening to the people of Great Britain” and called Farage “a great man”.

“Wales is a complete mess. As you know, we’ve got the worst educational outcomes. We’ve got health statistics that are the worst in the UK.

“Farmers are getting battered, pensioners are getting battered… we can’t have this go on.”

Unveiling Jones, Farage said she brought “experience. She knows how the place works, and that’s very important for us”.

Jones had been reselected by the Conservatives for the new Senedd seat of Sir Fynwy Torfaen, but she faced a contest with Tory MS Peter Fox for the top spot on the party list there.

If she lost, she would be number two in the list – there has been speculation it might be difficult for the Tories to get two seats in some constituencies on their current performance in the opinion polls.

One source in the party questioned whether the prospect of coming second might have motivated the defection, but Jones denied that she had joined Reform because she was worried about not getting re-elected.

“I had a fair chance of getting in,” she told reporters.

Jones was first elected to the then-National Assembly in 2003, serving one term until 2007, before returning in 2020 after the death of Mohammad Asghar.

She was re-elected the following year, at the 2021 election, for South Wales East.

Her defection means the Conservatives are down to 14 politicians in the Welsh Parliament.

Welsh Conservative leader in the Senedd Darren Millar said: “Naturally, I’m disappointed by Laura’s decision and Conservative Party members and voters in South East Wales will feel very let down by her announcement.

He added: “We wish Laura all the very best in her new high tax and high spend party.”

A Welsh Labour spokesperson said: “Today’s defection is further proof that Reform are just the Tories in teal ties. Neither party cares about the people of Wales.”

Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth said: “This is yet another desperate Tory defection who knows the writing is on the wall for their party’s prospects next May.”

Welsh Liberal Democrat MP David Chadwick added: “Reform has no answers for Wales, just more noise, division, and is seemingly now only a vehicle for failed Conservative politicians.”

The announcement is likely to generate further speculation that other Conservative MSs may be about to defect.

Andrew RT Davies ruled that out in an interview with ITV Wales.

The former Senedd group leader said: “I was a Conservative when I went into the Senedd and I will be a Conservative when I leave the Senedd.”

He appeared to be reluctant to criticise Laura Anne Jones.

Asked if he was disappointed by her departure, he said: “People go to the home they feel most appropriate and Laura’s gone to Reform today.”

James Evans, MS for Brecon and Radnorshire, said the Tories had supported Jones “through thick and thin” and her defection felt like a “kick in the teeth”.

He told the broadcaster: “I think she’s made the wrong choice.”

“Reform will have to put up with everything they’ve got now, won’t they?”