Andrew RT Davies Farage comments expose Welsh Conservative rifts

Emily Price

Comments from the most senior Tory in Wales about Reform UK leader Nigel Farage have sparked civil war fears amongst the ranks of his party in the Senedd.

In a video clip published to X, the leader of the Welsh Conservative Senedd group, Andrew RT Davies appeared to suggest that the door could be left ajar for the Reform leader to rejoin the party.

Mr Farage quit the Conservative party in 1992 after the UK signed the Maastricht Treaty which called for a closer union among European nations.

He campaigned for Brexit as leader of UKIP and then went on to lead the Brexit Party and now Reform UK, moving between media jobs and political campaigns throughout his career.

In an interview with Sharp End’s Rob Osborne on Monday (July 8) when quizzed on whether Mr Farage could be a member of the Conservative Party in the future, the Tory leader initially said, “no”.

But when pressed by the ITV presenter, Andrew RT Davies didn’t rule out the possibility of a Tory comeback for the controversial figure.

Mr Osborne asked: “Utterly not? Never a member of the Conservative party?”

Andrew RT Davies replied: “You’ve changed the question there because you said ‘never’. As things stand at the moment he is the leader of an alternative political party, a party I might add he owns, he actually owns 53% of Reform.

“But ultimately he’s the leader of a party that’s sought to deny Conservative candidates winning at the last election.”

The Tory leader was again pressed for a definitive answer on whether he would be happy for Mr Farage to rejoin the Conservatives – maybe even as the party’s leader.

‘Centre-right’

Andrew RT Davies replied: “The party is open to anyone in this country who wants to be involved in political activism on the centre-right.

“When it comes to the Welsh Conservatives we are really powerful champions of communities the length and breadth of Wales.

“What we saw on Thursday is when the centre-right vote is spilt and divided, the left dominate. And that’s what happened on Thursday, the centre-right vote was spilt and many good Conservative MPs and candidates didn’t get elected.

“What we have to do is build a consensus on the centre-right to show that we have the solutions and answers for the problems that Wales faces and build that consensus so that we get as many elected members back in 2026 as possible.”

The current Tory leader’s comments to ITV appeared to be in stark contrast with the former Tory Senedd leader, Paul Davies, who just days ago rejected the idea of Mr Farage rejoining the Conservatives as a “load of old tosh”.

Reacting to a BBC News article with the headline, ‘Tories must embrace Farage after defeat’, Paul Davies said: “What a load of old tosh. Nigel Farage is a Libertarian and a populist. He is no Conservative and I say that as someone who has been a member of the Conservative party for decades.”

A Welsh Conservative insider told Nation.Cymru the Tory leader’s comments to ITV could trigger a “civil war” amongst the Senedd group with members more likely to back Paul Davies than their current leader.

Andrew RT Davies’ Sharp End interview also appeared to be at odds with his own comments to the BBC on Saturday (July 6) when he said the solutions to the problems facing his party in Wales “will not be found through the empty lens of Nigel Farage’s pint glass”.

Andrew RT Davies was openly critical of his own party during the aftermath of the July 4 election saying the Conservatives – who suffered a humiliating wipeout in Wales – had “let a lot of people people down”.

The defeat saw Secretary of State for Wales David TC Davies lose his Monmouthshire seat. A loss which saw Andrew RT Davies become the most senior Conservative figure in Wales.

Tory strategists have long seen Mr Farage’s right-wing populist political party as a threat – potentially taking votes from seats the Tories were defending against Labour.

Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman – who is on the right of the party – suggested the Conservatives should welcome Mr Farage into their ranks.

Last week’s general election saw him achieve success on his eighth attempt to gain a seat in Westminster with his party achieving a greater electoral result than either of his former outfits.

He is joined in the Commons by former Tory Lee Anderson, party chairman Richard Tice and former Southampton FC chairman Rupert Lowe.

Racism 

Reform UK’s election campaign – which was launched in Merthyr Tydfil – was mired by allegations of racism following a Channel 4 broadcast which showed a Reform canvasser using a racist slur about Rishi Sunak. Mr Farage claimed that the footage was a “set up”.

This is not the first time that Mr Farage and the Senedd Tory leader have hit the headlines together.

In October 2023, Andrew RT Davies was interviewed by the political figure in Cardiff for a special edition of ‘Farage at Large’.

The Tory Senedd leader appeared as a live guest to discuss the Llywydd’s decision to remove GB News from the Senedd’s internal TV system.

He was later accused of “misogyny” after he suggested Presiding Officer Elin Jones had declined an invitation to the interview because she was “busy doing her hair”.