Tory goes out with ‘head held high’ after losing seat

Richard Evans, Local Democracy Reporter

A Tory politician says he gave his all for the seat he lost in Friday’s elections.

Conservative former MS Gareth Davies said he was “all smiles,” despite Reform getting  top spot in the fight for Clwyd in the Senedd election race.

Reform won the biggest vote share, securing three of the six seats available in a huge night for the new force in Welsh politics. Plaid, who finished second, took two seats with the Conservatives also winning one seat in the newly formed Clwyd constituency.

Gareth Davies represented the now-abolished Vale of Clwyd constituency as an MS since 2021. He said he’d left the seat with his head held high.

“All smiles after the result yesterday despite sadly missing out on a seat,” an unbowed Mr Davies said.

“I leave office with my head held high, knowing that I did my very best and gave it my all.”

He added: “You never know when your journey in politics is going to end, so I’ve always believed in going for it and leaving nothing behind.”

The winning Reform candidates were Adrian Mason, Louise Emery, and Thomas Montgomery. Llyr Gruffydd and Becca Martin are the winning Plaid candidates.

Welsh Tory leader Darren Millar will return to the Senedd after his party won a fifth of the votes polled.

Speaking before the result, Welsh Tory leader Darren Millar said his party faithful had “slogged our guts out” as he predicted he would return to the Senedd but that it was “too early” to make a prediction for the Tories overall in Wales.

In the end his party was left in fourth place nationally, winning seven seats.

But the Tories’ performance pales in comparison to Labour’s, whose vote collapsed, seeing them win just nine seats in total, two more than the Welsh Conservatives.

Parties elected in Clwyd

Reform UK (3)
Plaid Cymru (2)
Conservatives (1)
Vote totals in Clwyd
Reform UK: 25,741
Plaid Cymru: 22,583
Conservatives: 16,193
Labour: 8,314
Green Party: 4,219
Liberal Democrats: 2,355
Heritage Party: 352

Senedd Members elected in Clwyd

Adrian Mason (Reform UK)
Louise Emery (Reform UK)
Thomas Montgomery (Reform UK)
Llyr Gruffydd (Plaid Cymru)
Becca Martin (Plaid Cymru)
Darren Millar (Conservative)

Turnout in Clwyd

Turnout: 51%