Top Welsh Tory must go, says ex-Boris Johnson aide

Andrew RT Davies has been Conservative Senedd leader for three-and-a-half years

Conservatives in the Senedd need "new leadership" and are not just "there to draw a pay cheque", Boris Johnson's former Downing Street PR chief has warned.

Guto Harri told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast that Cardiff Bay Tories need a "sense of purpose and a real sense of ambition about why they’re there".

Andrew RT Davies has led the Tory Welsh parliamentary group since returning to the role in January 2021.

A source close to Mr Davies said Mr Harri "moves in Welsh nationalist circles", made up of those "who do not have the interests of the Welsh Conservative Party in mind".

"I’ll be blunt and say that I think the Welsh Conservative Party in the Senedd needs new leadership, a sense of purpose and a real sense of ambition about why they’re there," Mr Harri told the programme.

"They’re not there to draw a pay cheque, they’re there to offer an alternative to what has so far been a one party state for the whole period of devolution."

He observed that the first "big test" for the new UK Tory leader, due to be named in November, would be elections to the Senedd and Scottish Parliament in 2026.

Mr Harri said he hoped the six leadership contenders would focus "very sharply" on this reality "over the next few weeks".

Last month Mr Davies said he did not feel his position was under threat, after criticism of his remarks on halal meat and inappropriate language from one of his Senedd members.

He had also been criticised by one of his predecessors, Lord Nick Bourne, for a social media post in which he asked whether the Senedd should be abolished.

Mr Davies said he had simply been seeking to engage with the public at an agricultural show, and also clarified that abolishing the Welsh Parliament was neither his nor his party's position.

At the time some Tory Senedd members privately expressed concerns about Mr Davies's social media posts.

One said they were increasingly "difficult to defend" and that if things continued as they were his position would be "untenable".

Guto Harri was appointed communications director at No 10 in February 2022, seven months before Boris Johnson resigned as prime minister

A source close to Andrew RT Davies accused Mr Harri of moving "in Welsh nationalist circles".

"These people do not have the interests of the Welsh Conservative Party in mind, only their wish to expand devolution," said the source.

"Andrew’s opposition to putting 36 more politicians in the Senedd is popular and cutting through with the public, creating a clear dividing line with Labour and Plaid Cymru nationalists.

"Those who want Andrew replaced are obsessed with manufacturing consent for more powers to be devolved, and they know he won’t let it happen."

In his Tuesday radio interview Mr Harri was also asked for his reaction to former Conservative Welsh secretary David TC Davies accepting a job as an advisor to Senedd member Laura Anne Jones, who is being investigated by police over her expenses.

Mr Davies lost his Monmouthshire seat in July’s general election.

Mr Harri said he had "made a big contribution to Welsh politics, both in the Senedd before or the assembly as it then was I think, and then in Parliament".

"He’s a very decent guy who’s hugely committed to Wales, so it’s good to see him involved in that sense," he said.