Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies quits

Andrew RT Davies narrowly won a confidence vote before resigning later the same morning

The Conservative leader in the Welsh Parliament, Andrew RT Davies, has resigned despite narrowly surviving a vote of confidence of his party colleagues.

It followed months of pressure over the party's direction in Wales, and a meeting last week, where Davies said some of his Members of the Senedd (MSs) had threatened to resign.

He won a vote of Tory Senedd members on Tuesday morning, with nine in support - including Davies' own vote - and seven against.

But with the group of 16 almost split halfway, Davies said his position was "untenable".

In a letter to the Welsh Tory chair Bernard Gentry, Andrew RT Davies accused party colleagues in the Senedd of undermining him, and warned the Conservatives of electoral "oblivion".

The leader of the opposition previously resigned from the role last in 2018, and stepped in after his successor Paul Davies quit.

Speaking to BBC Wales after he quit on Tuesday, Davies said he had offered "a full Welsh fry-up with black pudding", while his opponents "were offering muesli with croissants on the side".

"I am direct in the way I approach politics. I say it as it is and if people don't like it then they obviously do what they did today."

He said the "muesli and the croissant just won't cut the mustard with the electorate".

On Tuesday afternoon Welsh Tory chief whip Darren Millar was the first to announce he will stand to be the next Senedd Conservative leader, promising to unite the party.

The MS for South Wales Central had been leader of the Tories in the Senedd for most of the past 13 years, and first held the job in 2011.

Davies said he would not stand in the forthcoming leadership contest.

It is the first significant resignation of a senior Conservative since Kemi Badenoch became UK party leader a month ago.

What led to Andrew RT Davies' resignation?

In recent months Davies has faced criticism from some Westminster Conservatives about the direction of the party.

Supporters of Davies say he was attempting to tackle the threat of Nigel Farage's Reform UK, taking the party in a more right-leaning direction, while opponents are concerned the party is not trying to broaden its support.

His leadership saw him oppose four Welsh Labour first ministers, but Davies never came close to dislodging Labour's dominance of Welsh devolved politics.

But under his leadership the party returned a record number of seats at the last Senedd election in 2021.

He has courted controversy with his social media account. In the summer comments about halal meat led to accusations from a Muslim group of "race-baiting".

Former Welsh Tory Senedd leader Lord Bourne also criticised a message on X which showed Davies asking constituents if they thought the Senedd should be abolished.

The party officially supports Wales' system of government, with the Welsh Parliament and Welsh government controlling the NHS, education, agriculture and councils, among other areas.

It comes after a poll at the weekend suggested the Conservatives were in fourth place in Wales, behind Plaid Cymru, Reform and Labour.

Last week, Davies wrote: "A group of Senedd members approached me, threatening to resign their positions in shadow cabinet if I did not agree to step down as leader.

"I therefore requested a motion of confidence in my leadership to be held at a meeting this morning."

It was clear from the vote, he said "that a substantial minority of the group do not support our approach, despite it being the only viable strategy available."

Andrew RT Davies said his position was untenable after Tuesday's vote

Davies argued that his approach would have "united the centre-right" in Wales and "won over new support to the Conservative Party".

He warned with the new entirely proportional electoral system for the Senedd in 2026: "Any other approach, particularly one that results in obfuscation and failure to confront controversial subjects the public demands we tackle, risks electoral oblivion.

"Over recent months, it has become increasingly difficult to take this necessary approach, due to resistance from some members within the Senedd group," he said.

"In many cases, it was impossible to offer clarity of message, with statements contradicted publicly by certain members. This made it unclear to the public exactly what the Conservative Party in Wales stands for."

A Conservative MS who opposed Davies said it had been a "difficult few days".

“We were all on the same page for this but we will not be acting as a seven [who voted against Davies]," the source said of the looming contest.

"When you look at the names of the seven I would not put them into one particular group. It was a mish-mash of people.

"Andrew would have known there were seven against him so I am not sure what today has proved. He sees this as a personal attack, but everyone - whatever side they are on - really likes him personally.”

Darren Millar is the first Tory MS to declare an interest in the leadership

Millar to stand

Darren Millar, MS for Clwyd West, became the first candidate to say he will stand to replace Andrew RT Davies and "build on Andrew's legacy".

Asked by BBC Wales if he would move the party to the right to take on Reform, or the middle or left to meet the challenge from Labour and Plaid Cymru, he responded: "I'm not interested in left or right, I'm a Conservative".

"I fight as a Conservative [and] campaign as a Conservative, that's what I've always done since I was 15 years old when I joined the party.

"And I think I've shown through my own election record that I can win against Labour, against Reform and against Plaid Cymru and the Liberal Democrats, whoever else wants to put themselves up for election.

"We can only do so when we are united and I believe that I have the ability to be able to unite the Senedd group so that we can go forward as a team that's ready to take on the Labour Party at the next elections."

A Welsh Tory source that supports Andrew RT Davies said: “It obviously can’t be someone who wielded the knife. Darren has the experience and the presence."

Who opposed Andrew RT Davies?

As well as Andrew RT Davies, eight other Conservative MSs backed him staying on.

These were Gareth Davies, Paul Davies, Russell George, Mark Isherwood, Joel James, Laura Anne Jones, Darren Millar and Janet Finch-Saunders.

Opposed to him were: Natasha Asghar, James Evans, Peter Fox, Tom Giffard, Altaf Hussein, Sam Kurtz and Sam Rowlands.

Andrew RT Davies took part in first minister's questions on Tuesday

Warm tributes to Davies in Senedd

Kind tributes were paid by Senedd political leaders in First Minister’s Questions on Tuesday afternoon.

Welsh Labour leader and First Minister Eluned Morgan told the Welsh Parliament that she knew Davies had “passionately held beliefs and you've argued your cause here in the Senedd”.

“We’ve always had political differences, but I’ve always appreciated the way that you’ve read the room, in particular on those big occasions.”

Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth told the Senedd: "He knows that I disagree with many aspects of his politics and his political direction and I guess there's only one place where we've genuinely been on the same side and that's for the Senedd rugby team.

"And I've been very pleased to be on the same side as him then, given that he's a hard man to bring down. But on a personal level I wish him well."

Presiding Officer Elin Jones called Davies the “comeback kid of this chamber”.

“You are held in high regard in this chamber, and especially by me.

“I'm sure that this chamber would wish as one to thank you for your contribution as leader of the opposition and to wish you well into the future.”

She said there was “nothing I like better than a cheeky backbencher, I foresee more cheek on the backbenches from now on”.

Analysis

By Gareth Lewis, BBC Wales political editor

Today’s result proved the deep split within the Conservative Senedd group.

It's one that, judging by the tone and content of Andrew RT Davies’s letter, will take time to heal.

What now?

A leadership contest looks certain, with one Conservative source saying it would be “simplistic” to think that the seven rebels would now act as one and unite behind a single candidate.

That’s before anyone who might agree with Davies throws their name into the mix.

Whoever takes over has a job on their hands – direction, party unity, the threat from Reform and dire polling ahead of the 2026 Senedd election.

'Never missing an opportunity'

Mims Davies, the shadow Welsh secretary at Westminster, thanked Andrew RT Davies for putting in an "immense shift" in frontline Welsh politics over many years and said he had "given a large amount" to the Conservatives.

"I look forward to continuing to work together closely with him and all the Welsh Conservative Senedd group in its new shape going forward," she posted on X.

Nigel Huddleston MP, co-chairman of the Conservative Party, thanked Davies "for his dedication and leadership of the Welsh Conservatives".

“Over 10 years he has done a great job in holding the Welsh Labour government to account - never missing an opportunity to highlight their mishandling of the NHS, roads and the economy.

“The whole Conservative Party is united in renewing the Party for the future and I know that Andrew will help us with that mission as he continues in his role as an assembly member," he said, incorrectly using an old title for Senedd politicians abolished in 2020.

Reform UK Wales spokesman Oliver Lewis said: "True to form, the Tories have turfed out another leader thinking that will resurrect their failing party.

"They care more about jousting for position than they do about serving Welsh people."

Davies is the third Welsh party leader to quit this year - and the fourth in two years.

Labour replaced Vaughan Gething with Eluned Morgan in the summer, and Plaid Cymru's Adam Price resigned in 2023, to be succeeded by Rhun ap Iorwerth.

Later on Tuesday, Andrew RT Davies announced that he was "pleased to welcome Laura Anne Jones" back into his Cardiff Bay team as shadow minister for culture, tourism and sport.

On Monday, South Wales Police said it had dropped an investigation into her expenses after finding "no evidence of fraudulent activity".

The MS for South Wales East, who denied making false mileage claims, had been asked to step back from her duties as a front bench spokeswoman while the investigation was ongoing.