Leaked correspondence reveals plot to turn Welsh Tories into an ‘abolish the Senedd’ party

Martin Shipton

Supporters and associates of Welsh Conservative Senedd leader Andrew RT Davies are secretly manoeuvring to change the party’s policy so it would support the abolition of the Senedd, we can reveal.

Correspondence leaked to Nation.Cymru shows that Cardiff Tory councillor Joel Williams has asked the party’s policy director, Sam Rowlands MS, to back a vote of grassroots members on the issue.

Supporters of the idea have taken heart from the fact that Mr Rowlands hasn’t rejected the suggestion.

For the Welsh Conservatives to become an overtly anti-Senedd group would break the pro-devolution consensus that has existed between the main parties since the early months of the National Assembly.

The prospect has horrified Welsh Tories who support Wales having its own Parliament.

Social media channel

Posting on a private Tory social media channel called the Welsh Conservative Membership Network, Cllr Williams wrote: “The Welsh Senedd, formerly the Welsh Assembly, has failed the people of Wales since its establishment in 1999.

“Our party has a proud tradition of respecting the views and opinions of our membership. Without our membership we would not have a party. After 25 years of a regional government in Wales, the time has come to ask our members to determine Welsh Conservative policy on the Senedd.

“As policy director of the Welsh Conservatives, I am requesting arrangements are put in place to ballot Welsh Conservative members on whether they support the abolishment of the Senedd. Our members should be asked an unequivocal and binary question: Do you agree that the Senedd should be abolished? Yes or No. The majority result of our membership should be respected and enacted as party policy.

“The Welsh devolution referendum of 1997 was held in Wales on September 18. Just over 50% of registered voters took part in this referendum. By a slender majority of just over 6,000, Wales voted to establish an Assembly. Less than 30 years prior to this referendum, Wales overwhelmingly rejected regional government in 1979 by nearly four to one.

“Welsh Conservatives overwhelmingly campaigned against the establishment of a Welsh Assembly. 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.

‘Foisted’

He continued: “The 1997 referendum was foisted on Wales and we have paid a heavy price since its inception. I joined the Conservative and Unionist Party in 2010, and have been an active member and representative. As Conservatives we stand against excessive and wasteful bureaucracy. We believe taxpayers’ money must be spent wisely and prudently, with funding directed to front-line public services like our hospitals, schools, councils and emergency services.

“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. Only in recent times we have seen harmful policies imposed on the people of Wales, including default 20mph speed limits despite the record-breaking Senedd petition of 469,570 signatures calling for the default 20mph speed limits to be scrapped.

“Like many of our members, I remain sceptical of the Senedd’s abilities to achieve everything they have claimed it would in 1997. I believe in the power of the union of the Union 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 that the Welsh Senedd has shown itself to be a costly and unnecessary tier of government.

“Members consistently inform me of their continued opposition and dissatisfaction, and urge me to vocally oppose the continuance of the Senedd. I agree. As Welsh Conservatives I believe our policy should be clear. We should seek a referendum on the abolition of the Senedd, and for as long as Wales has a Senedd, Welsh Conservatives are focussing 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.”

Engagement

Responding, Mr Rowlands wrote: “As policy director I have made it a priority to open up engagement with Conservative Party members. This engagement in recent times has included running several Welsh Conservative Policy Forums (CPFs) with party members across a variety of policy areas such as health, education and housing. You will be aware that the latest CPF looks at agriculture, where we are focussed on developing policies which will protect and boost our farming communities, who are under assault by Labour and Plaid Cymru. Both of these parties continue to fail the people of Wales.

“This policy engagement process and structure will continue as more CPFs take place in the future. As you will know, these are carried out in conjunction with members of the Welsh Conservative Shadow Cabinet. I look forward to your input into these policy forums to help build a platform and manifesto ready for the Welsh Parliament election in 2026.”

Supporters and associates of Andrew RT Davies swung behind the idea.

Former Cardiff Tory councillor Kathryn Kelloway commented on the social media forum: “I think having a members’ vote on this is a great idea. The Welsh Conservatives have reached a crossroads on devolution and it’s time we all came together to decide which way to go. Very encouraging that Sam Rowlands kept this option open in his response.”

Newport Tory councillor David Fouweather commented: “I totally support your view. We need another referendum where I believe the Assembly will be firmly abolished.”

Huw Davies, deputy chairman of South East Wales Conservatives, commented: “Well said Joel, and well done Sam on keeping the door open.”

Disastrous 

However, the Welsh Conservative source who leaked the correspondence to us and believes changing the policy on devolution would be disastrous, said: “I’m getting in touch with you as I’m concerned about the direction the Welsh party is heading in and the influence that certain, more ‘high profile’ members are trying to exert over the membership.

Referring to Cllr Williams’ posting and the comments of Huw Davies, the source said: “Ironically both Huw and Joel himself have been employed in the Senedd, so they are seemingly happy to take Senedd money and use Senedd resources, whilst campaigning to get rid of it!

“As you’ll know, RT Davies and his staffer George Carroll have seemingly been trying to woo Reform voters over the summer with an increasingly anti-Senedd rhetoric, angering many MSs who do not share this view. The screenshots attached suggest that this view is increasingly being pushed by a number of RT’s most vocal supporters, who are trying to lead the Welsh Conservatives down a path of self-destruction. Whilst some MSs are devo-sceptic, most MSs support the concept of the Senedd and so any adoption of an abolish policy would, in my opinion, lead to the party fundamentally fracturing.

“It’s worth also remembering that the vast majority of those calling for the abolishment of the Senedd were also ardent Brexiteers, who were infuriated by any calls for a second EU referendum and consistently argued for the referendum result to be respected. It seems as if they don’t respect referendums that don’t align with their own views.

“The most worrying aspect is that these members are actively trying to make the Welsh Conservatives even more electorally irrelevant than it already is. Polls show that most people in Wales support the concept of the Senedd, even if they disagree with the Welsh Government.

“Yet once again the leadership and his supporters are openly suggesting that these voters are wrong. Nevertheless, the party’s bandwidth is being taken up by marginal issues that ordinary voters quite simply don’t care about – abolishing the Senedd, the debunked myth about supposed payments to illegal migrants in Wales, and the availability of Halal meat in Welsh schools.

“All of this narrative does nothing but appeal to voters on the periphery, whose views should not become the mainstream. Yet RT and his supporters are peddling every untruth and using every populist tool that they can find, so desperate are they to try to get their voices heard in a Welsh society that is simply becoming tired of this constant angry, complaining and negative shouty narrative that RT uses. It is quite simply embarrassing – if there’s anything that the membership should be consulted on, it’s getting rid of the current stale, out-of-their-depth leadership.

“I’m also concerned that Sam’s response has led to some members believing that such a policy may be considered in the future, given the responses in the screenshots attached. This will do nothing but add more fuel to the fire, and believe that this position should be further queried as the party cannot go on like this indefinitely – see the debate about EU membership in the national party that eventually led to Brexit…

“The Welsh Conservatives should see the Senedd as an electoral opportunity to put pressure on Labour, especially when there is a Labour government with a massive majority in power. The more unpopular the UK and Welsh Labour governments become, the more opportunity there is for the Welsh Conservatives to make a breakthrough in Wales.

“This is not the party that I first joined, and the state that it finds itself in is shameful for a party that supposedly is aiming for power in 2026.”

Stunt

Over the summer Andrew RT Davies organised a stunt at the Vale of Glamorgan Show where people were invited to put balls into two buckets to highlight whether they wanted to abolish the Senedd or not.

He also appointed Conor Holohan, a former Senedd staffer for ex-Abolish the Assembly MS Mark Reckless, as the Tory Senedd group’s media manager.

We invited Mr Davies to tell us whether he supported Cllr Williams’ proposal to turn the Welsh Conservatives into an Abolish the Senedd party. He has not responded.