Communications agency PLMR has appointed Kirsty Walmsley, a former senior official at Reform UK, as an adviser to help clients navigate the party as it develops its policy platform and prepares for May’s local and devolved elections. The hire reflects a broader shift in attitudes towards Reform. Once a party that was dismissed by the Westminster political machine, is quietly becoming part of it.

Walmsley spent four years at Reform UK between 2021 and 2025, serving as head of candidates before becoming national campaign director for Wales, where she oversaw preparations for the Senedd elections. She also sat on the party’s Education Policy Development Group.

“With the party already in control of numerous local and combined authorities – and tipped to make significant gains at May’s devolved and local elections – it is important that organisations understand the party and the direction it is headed in,” said Simon Darby, head of public affairs at PLMR.

The appointment lands at a telling moment. Just recently, Reform hosted a drinks reception with public affairs and communications professionals in their Millbank HQ. It was the latest indication that the party is actively courting the lobbying industry it once regarded with suspicion.

That shift has been building for months. At Reform’s annual conference in Birmingham last September commercial exhibitors and public affairs …