Tory blasts Senedd leader's abolish stunt

Welsh Conservatives' Senedd leader Andrew RT Davies

The Welsh Conservatives' Senedd leader has been warned against going down a "blind alley" of trying to debate the abolition of the Welsh Parliament.

Andrew RT Davies took to X, formerly Twitter, to say that he raised the issue at the Vale of Glamorgan agricultural show as he was "keen to find out people's views".

But Tory peer Nick Bourne, a former leader of the party in Wales and a member of the then Welsh Assembly, said there were "very many good things about devolved politics".

While the abolition of the Senedd is not a policy of the Conservatives, Mr Davies said he was keen to find out people's views.

"Once the vote was taken over 25 years ago, we determined that the correct approach was to make the assembly work, now the Senedd, for the good of the people of Wales," said Lord Bourne on BBC Radio Wales' Sunday Supplement programme.

"That remains very much the position. I don't understand why we're going down this blind alley.

"It doesn't seem to make a lot of sense to me."

Earlier in the week, Mr Davies shared a photo on X from the Vale of Glamorgan Show, showing how people were being asked to drop a ball into one of two buckets to highlight whether they wanted to abolish the Senedd or not, which he admitted was an "unscientific poll".

Responding to criticism on X, Mr Davies said: "We're just keen to find out people's views. It's important to find out what people think."

Lord Bourne also questioned why Mr Davies had raised an issue of the availability of non halal food in Welsh schools, prompting the Welsh Tory leader to be accused of engaging in "Islamophobic race-baiting" by the Muslim Council of Wales.

Lord Bourne said: "We do have to make clear that we're a one nation party."

In response, Mr Davies said: "Welsh Conservatives stand against all forms of racism, including anti-Muslim hatred.

"Representations from across Wales have been made to me about the availability of non-halal meat in schools.

"These are legitimate queries and I make no apologies for taking them forward.

"It is important to have these discussions in a measured way and we will continue to do so."

Lord Bourne called for Conservative Members of the Senedd (MSs) to have a group meeting to discuss its "one nation" stance despite Welsh Parliament being in recess.

He went on to say that his party's "focus should be how are we going to make things better for the people of Wales" after the Conservative general election wipe-out in Wales and with the Reform party setting their sights on the Senedd elections in 2026.

"I think there's a great danger of talking Reform up," he added.

"We've had UKIP before, and they were represented in the Senedd previously, and then it fizzled out.

"The exposure that Reform is going to get now that they've got elected politicians in Westminster may well show what a busted flush they are.

"We're not that party.

"We're a party of the moderate right, and that should be reflected in the way we approach politics in Wales."