Welsh Tory leader faces battle for constituency top spot

Emily Price

The leader of the Welsh Conservatives will go head to head with a member of his shadow cabinet for the top spot on the party’s list of candidates for the Clwyd seat after both politicians had their incumbency requests approved.

On Tuesday evening (April 15), opposition leader and Clwyd West MS Darren Millar, and Vale of Clwyd MS Gareth Davies faced a selection council made up of Tory representatives from the area.

As both members were approved for re-selection, they will now face a ballot by the wider membership to rank them in the number one and number two spot on the closed list.

Their Tory colleagues Laura Anne Jones and Peter Fox are facing a similar situation after both Senedd Members were granted incumbency rights for the new Sir Fynwy Torfaen constituency in March.

Reform

The next Senedd election will see votes cast for parties instead of individual candidates as part of plans to increase the size of the Welsh Parliament to 96 members.

Local and regional members of the Senedd will be replaced by 16 super constituencies each represented by six MSs.

The reforms have been heavily opposed by the Welsh Conservatives who say Wales needs more doctors and nurses and not more politicians.

Supporters of the expansion say the Senedd has long been under resourced and that the issue has grown as Wales has acquired more responsibilities.

The reforms will also see all Senedd constituencies given Welsh-language only names from next year.

Under the closed list system parties will be able to put forward a list of ranked Senedd election candidates.

A row blew up within the Welsh Conservatives last year over incumbency rights for sitting members which virtually guaranteed they would be at the top of the party’s list of candidates in the areas where they are already standing.

The row has rumbled on with some grassroots members still raising concerns about the process.

Rift

Darren Millar was elected unopposed as the new leader of the Senedd Conservatives in December 2024 after an internal rift saw former leader Andrew RT Davies ousted.

He was first elected to the then National Assembly in 2007 and is currently serving his fourth term as the MS for Clwyd West.

Before being elected to the Senedd, Mr Millar – a Christian himself – worked as a manager for a charity supporting persecuted Christians around the world.

Gareth Davies currently serves in Mr Millar’s shadow cabinet as the shadow cabinet secretary for  culture, tourism, sport and north Wales.

He has lived in the Vale of Clwyd all his life and previously worked for the NHS for over a decade supporting people with mental health needs and learning disabilities before moving into physiotherapy.

Mr Davies is currently serving his first term in the Senedd after having been elected in 2021.

Last year he was praised for speaking candidly about his suicide attempt which eventually led to him being diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder.