Ex-minister working for controversial Welsh Tory

Former Welsh Secretary David TC Davies is now working for Conservative MS Laura Anne Jones

A former Conservative Welsh secretary has confirmed that he has accepted a job as senior advisor to a Senedd politician who is being investigated by the police.

David TC Davies served in Rishi Sunak’s cabinet and lost his Monmouthshire seat in July’s general election.

His new boss, Member of the Senedd (MS) for South East Wales, Laura Anne Jones, is being looked at over her expenses.

Mr Davies was member for Monmouth in the Welsh assembly, as it was known before becoming the Senedd, between 1999 and 2007.

David TC Davies had led the Welsh Conservative general election campaign, which saw every Welsh Tory MP lose their seat

Writing on his LinkedIn page over the weekend Mr Davies said that "the chance to return to the Senedd after 17 years was far too tempting to pass up".

"I’m looking forward to reconnecting with old friends from all sides of the political spectrum next month," he wrote.

The Senedd returns from its summer recess on 16 September.

Mr Davies says he spent the summer as a consultant "helping organisations to understand how to influence legislation as it moves through Parliament", something he described as "less stressful" than being a cabinet minister.

There has been speculation that Mr Davies, and a number of other former Welsh Conservative MPs who lost their seats in the general election, might stand for election to an expanded Senedd in 2026.

The number of Senedd Members is increasing from 60 to 96.

Ms Jones is being investigated by police over allegations about her expenses, after she was referred to the police by Senedd standards commissioner Douglas Bain.

Earlier in the summer BBC Wales published texts about expenses from the phone of Ms Jones, where a staff member was asked: "When doing petrol thing - always make more than I did – add in stuff please OK."

The context for the WhatsApp messages regarding her expenses was not evident.

A solicitor on her behalf said at the time: "Ms Jones is satisfied that any allegations in relation to impropriety surrounding expenses are entirely misconceived."

Police have said the investigation is still ongoing.

In a separate story, she apologised for using a racist slur about Chinese people in a WhatsApp group chat.

She used the term in an exchange about the Chinese-owned video app TikTok.

In a statement, Ms Jones said the word was "unacceptable and I deeply regret using it".