Andrew RT Davies to face vote of no confidence

Emily Price

The leader of the Senedd Conservatives Andrew RT Davies will face a motion of no confidence next week after members of his group raised concerns about his leadership.

A well placed source told us that a series of controversial “gaffes” by the most senior Tory in Wales had caused some Conservative MSs to become “nervous” about the direction he was taking the party.

Davies called for a meeting on Thursday (November 28) afternoon after he was told the night before that several members of his shadow cabinet were agitating for his removal.

It is understood that a substantial minority of MSs arrived at this meeting to air their grievances.

Davies attempted to face down the rebellion by suggesting a vote of no confidence in his leadership next Tuesday.

A Tory insider said: “Andrew’s instinct is always to fight on, but for the good of the party he needs to accept that it’s over.”

If Davies loses the motion there will be an election to select his successor.

Candidates will need to be nominated by at least four MSs – nominations would then be put forward to a membership ballot.

‘Race-baiting’

Pressure has been mounting on the Tory leader since the summer when a number of senior Tory figures and members of his own shadow cabinet publicly lambasted his behaviour.

In August, he was accused of Islamophic race-baiting by the Muslim Council of Wales after he posted a number of incorrect claims about Halal meat in Welsh schools to his social media.

One post published to X, formerly Twitter, went viral after it was amplified by anti-Muslim activist Tommy Robinson.

The rift in the Senedd’s shadow cabinet appeared to deepen further following another social media stunt at the Vale of Glamorgan show.

Davies and his team had constructed a home made ballot box to canvass the public on whether they thought the Welsh Parliament should be abolished.

Supporters and associates of the politician then began to secretly manoeuvre to change the party’s policy so it would support the abolition of the Senedd.

Devolution

Davies was later pressured by some Tory MSs to make an official statement rejecting calls for the party’s stance on devolution to change.

The rumblings of a coup appeared to lose pace after the group returned to the Senedd in the autumn for a new term.

But tension began to mount again after Davies made comments to the tabloids about a Welsh Government report which allegedly suggested dog-free zones could tackle racism.

The ethnic minority group at the heart of the viral news story said the Tory leader had “cherrypicked” lines from the report “out of context, misrepresented and used as clickbait to drive engagement.”

An email exchange shown to Nation Cymru revealed how the head of organisation had reached out to Davies asking him to stop reinforcing the claims because some participants were being subjected to a “barrage” of racist abuse and hate mail.

Tommy Robinson

The Welsh Tory leader responded by doubling down on his stance and arguing that nothing he had said on the issue was “untrue”.

He later discussed the issues on a podcast which has previously offered a platform to Tommy Robinson and other far-right figures.

Davies also attacked a Welsh Government incentive scheme to recruit BAME teachers – a cause previously supported by one of his group.

He also hit the headlines after he was formerly reprimanded by the Senedd for characterising Wales’ 20mph default speed limit as a “blanket” policy.

Twitter

Many of the Tory figure’s divisive talking points and trademark Twitter persona are said to be the handiwork of his chief aide George Carroll who is a councillor in the Vale of Glamorgan.

Carroll recently lost his bid to become the Chairman of the Welsh Conservatives.

During his campaign he promised grassroots members a ballot on whether abolishing the Senedd should become party policy.

He also planned to change the rules around incumbency rights for sitting MSs ahead of the 2026 Senedd election.

Such a move could have seen some current members deselected.

Davies threw his support behind his senior advisor while the rest of the Tory Senedd group backed the winning candidate.

He was elected the Leader of the Welsh Conservative Senedd group in 2011 but resigned from the position in 2018 when others in the party called for his removal.

Davies was re-appointed the role in January 2021 but took a short leave of absence  after suffering with mental health issues.