Support our Nation today - please donate here
News

Andrew RT Davies criticised by Tory councillors for pro-Senedd stance

28 Oct 2024 4 minute read
Andrew RT Davies gesticulates during an angry exchange in the Senedd

Emily Price

Welsh Conservative councillors have hit out at Andrew RT Davies after he made clear he does not support the idea of abolishing the Welsh Parliament.

The Senedd group leader told Nation Cymru on Friday (October 25) that “the Welsh Conservatives are committed to making devolution work in the interests of the people of Wales.”

His comments came amid a series of rows between Conservative members and MSs.

Abolishing the Welsh Parliament is against current party policy but there is a growing call from some grassroots members for this to change ahead of the 2026 election.

‘Out of touch’

Andrew RT Davies’ closest aide George Carroll has promised a members ballot on the issue if he is elected the party’s Welsh Chairman.

David Fouweather – a Tory Councillor for Allt yr yn in Newport – says Mr Davies is not “the Welsh Conservative leader” and “does not speak for the Welsh Conservatives on devolution”.

He has accused the Tory Senedd group of being “out of touch” with ordinary Conservative members adding that MSs have committed themselves to a “Welsh nationalist experiment”.

He said “The overwhelming majority of our members oppose devolution, and recent polling shows that the proportion of our voters who want it abolished is even larger than the percentage of Plaid voters who want independence.

“Our devolved contingent of politicians, already aloof and disconnected from the rest of the Party, have a financial stake in Cardiff Bay which may cloud their judgement as conservatives and as unionists.”

‘Financial incentives’

He added: “Members are now openly opining that this has more to do with personal financial incentives than anything relating to devolution’s performance.

“By backing devolution, Conservative MSs contribute to a cross party consensus which empowers it to expand. Devolution has always been  a process toward eventual separation, never a stable settlement.

“It is their responsibility as members of the national party of Great Britain, the Conservative Party, to dispute this Welsh nationalist project. Britain’s opponents want us to legitimatise this institution, and our MSs have obliged.”

Following the General Election – which saw the Tories wiped out in Wales – Andrew RT Davies said the Welsh Conservatives must change quickly or “die”.

Addressing the Tory Party conference in September, the Senedd group leader said the Welsh public are “inherently conservative”, and “if the party returns to its values, it will win them over”.

‘Salient messages’

But Cllr Fouweather says that as devolved elections are “fought in a low turnout and sparse media environment” – they require a “strategy of motivating the base with a straightforward salient message”.

He said: “Conservative and Reform voters want the Senedd abolished more than Plaid voters want independence. And under proportional representation, Conservative MSs will not benefit from anti-Labour tactical votes, they will have to give our voters a reason to back us.”

Cllr Fouweather is not the only Conservative councillor distancing themself from Andrew RT Davies’ pro-Senedd stance.

Cardiff Councillor Joel Williams has been similarly vocal and has called for a ballot of members on the issue.

The former Big Brother star currently works for South Wales East MS Laura Anne Jones.

‘Foisted’

He told Nation Cymru the 1997 referendum had been “foisted on Wales” and that Welsh people had “paid a heavy price since its inception.”

He said: “Labour campaigned for the Assembly arguing it would improve public services, boost economic growth and ‘end the threat of separatism’; in many ways the opposite has happened.

“The Senedd will seek to further increase taxes to fund inefficient projects, ever expanding their dominance over our lives. Such policies will make Wales even less competitive and drive away investment and job creation. The Senedd continues to act against the best interests of the people of Wales.

“I believe in the power of the Union of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and whilst Welsh nationalists seek to break up our Union, Welsh Conservatives must unwaveringly stand as defenders of our Union.

“I have come to the conclusion the Welsh Senedd has shown itself to be a costly and unnecessary tier of government.

“For as long as Wales has a Senedd, Welsh Conservatives are focused on doing all we can to ensure it works as well as possible for Wales and should there be a referendum, the Senedd should be abolished.”

Andrew RT Davies was heavily criticised during the Senedd summer recess by senior Tory figures and his own cabinet after he invited people visiting the Vale of Glamorgan show to put balls into two buckets to highlight whether they wanted to abolish the Senedd or not.


Support our Nation today

For the price of a cup of coffee a month you can help us create an independent, not-for-profit, national news service for the people of Wales, by the people of Wales.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
17 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Owen Williams
Owen Williams
22 hours ago

This would be the same David Fouweather whose personal Facebook page is effectively a sharing platform for posts by the always-pathetic Abolish the Welsh Assembly Party?

Perhaps Cllr Weathervane should find a political home and stick with it?

Or, you know, maybe he could just recognise the democratic will of the citizens of Wales…

Y Cymro
Y Cymro
22 hours ago

As usual Welsh Tory leader Andrew RT Davies is grabbing at straws. He hasn’t a clue about politics. Will never be First Minister. So like most left on the shelf of life has become bitter. And instead of using his solitary braincell to work out that devolution is here to stay continues to fight lost devolution battles. But this is the problem with the Conservatives in Wales. They have no Welsh identity. They are essentially an English party and the only thing Welsh about them is their postcode in Cardiff Bay. See there’s one thing to be a Capitalist rather… Read more »

Rob
Rob
21 hours ago

“I believe in the power of the Union of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and whilst Welsh nationalists seek to break up our Union, Welsh Conservatives must unwaveringly stand as defenders of our Union. Go to any state in the US and they will tell you that they are better off being governed by themselves and not by Washington. Does that make them anti-American secessionists? Are the Conservatives prepared to abolish the Scottish Parliament and Northern Ireland Assembly as well, or is it just Wales? They act as though as if incompetence only exits in Wales,… Read more »

Last edited 21 hours ago by Rob
Annibendod
Annibendod
21 hours ago

And there you have it. A bunch of British Nationalist extremists who want to abolish Welsh Democracy. Plaid, Labour and Libs must come together to demand of the UK a new act that puts the power to disband the Senedd in the hands of the Senedd with the requirement of a super majority to pass. No way we can leave it in the hands of Westminster.

CommonSense
CommonSense
21 hours ago

Complete fruitcakes.

Torquin Carrithers
Torquin Carrithers
20 hours ago

The Senedd has been a resounding success no one can disagree with that. Education, Health Transport have all gained from Welsh devolution. We need further Justice and taxation policies to be totally devolved.

john dutton
john dutton
10 hours ago

Where have you been for the last 25 years.
Labour are a disaster in Wales and Westminster.
And i’m not a Tory.

Rob
Rob
8 hours ago

The Senedd is a democratically elected institution, if you feel that Labour are doing a great job then vote to keep them in power. If they are doing a bad job then vote them out.

John Ellis
John Ellis
19 hours ago

This is no more than a guess on my part – indeed, how could it be other, given that I’m not a Tory? But my punt, for what it’s worth, is that there’s a divide within Welsh Conservatism between those who are viscerally opposed to any devolution whatsoever within the UK, because they’re British nationalists by instinct and conviction; and those who want to hang on to devolution because it’s provided them with a political career in Cardiff Bay which they privately think might not be available to them if they were to make a pitch for a seat in… Read more »

Brychan
Brychan
16 hours ago

The only people who used their powers to “legitimatise this institution” is the people of Wales. Twice during the referendums. In 1997 to establish it, then again in 2011 to give the institution full law making powers. That included a majority for it in Newport, an area where Cllr David Fouweather represents. There is something that Britain champions in, that of respecting democracy, so suggest that it is Fouweather himself who needs to consider his position. 

Rob
Rob
4 hours ago
Reply to  Brychan

I agree, we are told that we have to respect the democratic will when it comes to Brexit, but not the democratic will when it comes to devolution.

Nia James
Nia James
11 hours ago

Many Tory grassroot activists are anti-Welsh and anti-Cymraeg (I recall two of them having a real go at me when I said in one election meeting that I support the expansion of Welsh medium education). I’ve encountered so many over the years who ooze negativity towards our country. They have no sense of nationhood and are unpatriotic. They look sycophantically at London as the beloved diamond at the end of the M4. The problem is that some of them are now gaining the confidence to speak openly as their soul sisters Reform are increasing their fanbase. It is a pincer… Read more »

TheOtherJones
TheOtherJones
6 hours ago

Will the Tory lunatic fringe campaign to abolish themselves once they’ve run out of institutions to abolish?

A deeply unserious party with no solutions to offer other than to burn it all down (politically speaking).

Whether it’s the EU, the ECHR, the Senedd or any values more progressive than the Victorian period; they’ll never be happy. The politics of hate and fear.

Garycymru
Garycymru
6 hours ago

Calling for any country to lose its right to self governance should be a hate crime.
How much more disrespectful could someone be to any country?

Llyn
Llyn
4 hours ago
Reply to  Garycymru

If this type of language was used anywhere else in the World about any other country it would be universally condemned for what it is – extremist nationalism. The media would never say about the situation in Ukraine that we must hear out what Mr Putin and his thugs have to say about closing down the Ukrainian Parliament.

Llyn
Llyn
5 hours ago

It’s striking how the language used by David Fouweather and other British nationalist extremists echo’s the words used by Putin’s nationalist thugs to attack Ukrainian democracy. Attack the institution, its members and delegitimise.

Johnny Gamble
Johnny Gamble
54 minutes ago
Reply to  Llyn

What Democracy in Ukraine!
The last Democratic Government in Ukraine was removed as a result of a coup in 2014

Our Supporters

All information provided to Nation.Cymru will be handled sensitively and within the boundaries of the Data Protection Act 2018.