Tributes paid after politician falls ill with sepsis following vote count
FORMER UKIP leader in the Welsh Parliament Caroline Jones has died just days after standing in the Senedd election.
Ms Jones, 71, became seriously ill with severe sepsis on the night of the election count on May 8, after attending the results at Barry Leisure Centre earlier that day.
She was taken to Morriston Hospital, Swansea, where she died in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Her husband, Alun Williams, told BBC Wales she was a “fantastic woman” who was widely liked and respected across the Senedd.
“She couldn’t do enough for other people,” he said.
Ms Jones served as a Member of the Senedd for South Wales West from May 2016 to May 2021, and had been hoping to return to the Senedd as an independent candidate for the Pen-y-Bont Bro Morgannwg constituency.
She had initially been announced as a Reform UK candidate in another constituency but left the party in April, claiming it had ignored grassroots members.
Mr Williams, who works in the Senedd, said his wife’s illness last weekend had “come out of the blue”, despite having suffered pneumonia, sepsis and a hospital infection at Christmas.
He said she had been helping members of the public right up until the day before she was admitted to hospital, including assisting a homeless family who approached her late in the evening.
“She was helping people at 9pm the night before she went into hospital,” he said.
Mr Williams also recalled how she donated a salary increase to charity after becoming a Senedd commissioner — a role involved in overseeing the running of the Welsh Parliament.
“I’ve had people in the house at 1am asking Caroline for advice,” he said.
“It was like a calling for her, to help people.”
He added that Ms Jones was well respected among politicians from across the political spectrum.
“A lot of people from other parties all got on with her. People in the canteen were in tears when they found out she was in hospital again,” he said.
Ms Jones was born in Llwynypia Hospital in the Rhondda in 1955. She trained as a drama and PE teacher, later running cafés in Porthcawl and Bridgend.
She also spent more than seven years working as a prison officer at HMP Parc in Bridgend until 2005.
Ms Jones entered the Senedd in 2016 as one of the seven UKIP members elected to the then Welsh Assembly, making political history at the time.
During a period of infighting within UKIP, she became one of the party’s leaders in Cardiff Bay after successfully ousting former Conservative MP Neil Hamilton.
She later joined the Brexit Party and led the Independent Alliance for Reform until 2021, before becoming a volunteer regional manager for Reform.
Tributes have been paid following her death.
Llŷr Powell, Reform MS for Blaenau Gwent Caerffili Rhymni, said on X: “I have known Caroline Jones for over 15 years and I am shocked and saddened by today’s news. My thoughts and prayers are with her loved ones at this difficult time.
“Gorffwys mewn hedd (rest in peace).”
Former Reform councillor Owain Clatworthy, now with Restore Britain, said Ms Jones had shown resilience through political and personal challenges.
“Caroline believed in the importance of democracy, free speech, and standing up for ordinary people,” he said.
