‘We’ve let a lot of people down’ – Senedd Tory leader
Emily Price
The leader of the Welsh Conservatives in the Senedd Andrew RT Davies has said his party has “let a lot of people people down” as the Tories suffer a humiliating wipeout in Wales.
In a social media post criticising his own party in Westminster he said: “We are a party that exists to govern and improve people’s opportunities.
“Let’s be frank: We’ve let a lot of people down.
“In Wales, the Welsh Conservatives have a solid record in our communities at all levels of government, from local government, to the Senedd, to Parliament.
“And we’re going to take the lead in rebuilding our party in the run up to 2026.
“Step one: Stop taking lifelong Conservative voters for granted.”
Loss
Labour won 27 of the 32 seats in Wales while Plaid doubled its MPs to four.
The Liberal Democrats ended with one – but the Tories – who won 14 at the 2019 election – were left with none.
Secretary of State for Wales David TC Davies, the final Tory to fall, had been Monmouth MP since 2005 and Welsh secretary since October 2022.
In a tribute to him on X, formerly Twitter, Andrew RT Davies said: “I want to pay tribute to all the party members and activists who have worked so hard over the last few weeks.
“And I’d like to pay tribute the candidates who have bust a gut to deliver the Welsh Conservative message, not least David TC Davies.”
Former ministers Alun Cairns, Stephen Crabb and Fay Jones also lost their seats, along with Rishi Sunak’s former parliamentary aide Craig Williams.
As the polls closed on Thursday (July 4) Andrew RT Davies said Rishi Sunak made a mistake in calling a July election.
He complained that the first he knew of the timing was when he heard about it on the radio.
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‘We’ve let a lot of people down’. Yes indeed but in Westminster terms, that’s over. Sadly, the letting down of the Welsh population is set to continue with the misinformation factory still in full production mode.
” let a lot of people down” , that must be the understatement of the century. What about all the people who have died because of the changes made to the benefits system, the thousands that died due to the handling of the Covid pandemic, crumbling infrastructure , health and education, while billions of £’s went missing or was handed over to friends and family, boxes of booze going into Downing st, and the parties, while I sat alone away from my family during my brothers cremation, due to covid restrictions. ” let a lot of people down” , you… Read more »
If the Welsh Conservatives don’t separate themselves from the toxic Westminster party they’ll find themselves losing seats to Reform in 2026. I’m no Tory supporter but Cymru needs to eliminate the far right threat.