Pembrokeshire’s Independent group leader has been accused of jumping on “any bandwagon whenever one comes along” after he attended a Reform party social event.

Pembrokeshire County Council’s main opposition group, the 21-strong Independent Group (IPG), is led by Cllr Huw Murphy; the council itself run by a coalition.

The recent July 18 Reform ‘social,’ held in Carmarthen, attended by Cllr Murphy and it believed at least three other members, was listed as a paid-for members-only event.

This raised fears about whether the IPG members were supporting the party, or could even be contemplating joining.

Cllr Murphy, who became leader of the IPG last year, confirmed he had attended the event, but had also attended a Plaid Cymru conference and a talk by Mark Drakeford, adding: “I am not a member of any political party and all meetings I have attended to date I have not spoken; I attend to listen and by listening it’s clear that there is a desire for change.”

Cllr Murphy later said there was “no likelihood” of any IPG members defecting to Reform, adding: “We went, so what? I’m sure some people would say ‘good for you’ and some would say ‘how dare you?’.”

Conservative Group member Cllr Aled Thomas said: “Not content with working with Labour to increase council taxes by nearly 10 per cent [during the 2025-26 budget setting] and advocating for a 12 per cent rise prior to that, the Independent Group have really embarrassed themselves with this latest flip-flop.

“It’s hard to take anything seriously from the IPG leader who jumps on whatever the latest populist trend is. Week after week we’ve heard Cllr Murphy talk about his independence and how he’s not swayed by party politics. Yet we find out he and members of his ‘independent’ group are funding Reform UK.

“Reform UK wants to see Welsh language targets scrapped, and the decimation of our farmers by advocating for hormone treated beef and chlorinated chicken to flood our supermarkets. If that’s the type of policies the IPG now stand for, then they should be honest with the constituents they represent.”

Pembrokeshire County Council’s Labour group said: “Residents deserve clarity and conviction from those elected to represent them. Instead, what we see from Cllr Murphy is the behaviour of a political chameleon — attending party political events while claiming to be above party politics, and dismissing legitimate concerns as ‘so what’.

“The ‘independent’ group is becoming a real rag-tag opposition group who are happy to jump on any bandwagon whenever one comes along.

“Pembrokeshire voters need to know who or what they will be voting for at the next local elections. It’s clear some in the group share Reform’s politics but where does that leave the rest of them?”

Responding Cllr Murphy said: “No-one from Labour complained when I attended a meeting when Mark Drakeford was the keynote speaker, but they complain now.”

He added: “It needs to be pointed out the Independent Group is almost the same size as the Pembrokeshire Conservative and Labour Group combined which clearly show how unpopular both parties are with the average Pembrokeshire voter and the omens for both Lab and Tories in 2026 and 2027 appears dire and they would do well to focus on voter concerns than get stressed over what IG councillors do in their spare time.”