Andrew RT Davies’ top aid loses Welsh Conservatives chairman bid

Emily Price

Andrew RT Davies’ chief aide has been unsuccessful in his bid to be elected the new chairman of the Welsh Conservatives.

Vale of Glamorgan Councillor George Carroll was given the news at the group’s annual general meeting in mid-Wales on Saturday (November 8).

He stood as part of a joint ticket alongside vice chair hopefuls Oliver Batt and Calum Davies – son of the former Tory MS Suzy Davies.

Abolition

Mr Carroll is widely thought to be the author of his employers abrasive social media posts.

In recent weeks, the unsuccessful trio had expressed anti Senedd views.

Abolishing the Senedd is against Conservative party policy, but a series of internal rows have brewed over the group’s stance on the future of devolution.

Mr Carroll had promised a ballot of grassroots members on whether supporting the abolition of the Senedd should become Welsh Conservative policy.

Andrew RT Davies has rejected the idea entirely telling Nation Cymru that “talk of abolition is a debate that is 25 years out of date”.

Mr Carroll had also committed to changing the rules around incumbency rights for current MSs ahead of the 2026 Senedd election.

“The silent majority”

It is understood that the leader of the Senedd Tories threw his support behind his aide whilst the rest of Tory Senedd group supported the winning slate of three made up of Bernard Gentry, Lyndon Jones and Abigail Mainon.

A Tory source told Nation Cymru the trio had won “comfortably”

In a veiled post published to X, formerly Twitter, Tory MS James Evans said: “The silent majority is being drowned out by the loud few!

“Politics must represent ALL voices, not just those who shout the loudest or have big government funded organisations behind them.

“It’s time governments stand up for hardworking people who pay their taxes!”