David TC Davies refused Boris Johnson Welsh secretary job offer

David TC Davies was a junior minister in the Wales Office since 2019 before accepting the Welsh secretary role a second time round

Welsh Secretary David TC Davies has confirmed he refused the job when he was offered it a day before Boris Johnson resigned as prime minister.

Mr Davies, the Conservative MP for Monmouth, said while the decision was "difficult", he "wasn't going to be the one to save" the Johnson government.

After Simon Hart resigned the post was filled by Sir Robert Buckland.

When Rishi Sunak was elected as the new PM, Mr Davies accepted the role a second time round on 25 October.

Mr Davies declined Mr Johnson's offer on 6 July amid an unprecedented wave of mass resignations.

Mr Hart tendered his own resignation via Twitter later that same evening.

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Recalling the events of the night before Mr Johnson's resignation on 7 July, Mr Davies said it was "inevitable the government was going to fall so it was important to accept that and not do anything that would sustain the government for a few more days".

Resignation letter

He told Newyddion S4C that he had "been in discussion" with Mr Hart before he urged Mr Johnson to quit along with a group of ministers at Downing Street.

According to the Financial Times, Mr Hart took a resignation letter with him to Number 10 that afternoon, telling the chief whip that if Mr Johnson decided to step down by the next morning, he should disregard the letter.

But in the event that Mr Johnson would insist on fighting on, he would "have to step aside".

However, Number 10 jumped the gun on the resignation and offered the job of Welsh secretary to Mr Davies, prompting Mr Hart to announce he had quit.

In his resignation letter, the Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire MP said colleagues had done their utmost to "turn the ship around" but he no longer thought that was possible.

Mr Davies, who was in the whips' office as well as being a minister in the Wales Office, said it was a "difficult" decision to turn down the job but it was "right".

'I made the right decision'

"I said, 'under the circumstances, if Simon steps down, I won't take the job'. Despite the temptation to take a place in the cabinet, for me it didn't feel right to see Simon go on a point of principle and just take the job," he said.

"Even had I done that, I'm sure the government would have fallen anyway, I wasn't going to save it.

"I also felt that to do this job you've got to have the respect of stakeholders in Wakes, and how can I expect anyone to respect me if I've taken the job if no one else wants to do it.

"When I got the call from Downing Street, offering me the job, I said, unfortunately, I'm really sorry but I can't do that. It was difficult, but I'm sure I made the right decision."

The role was eventually filled a day later by Sir Robert Buckland, who said that he only took the job because Mr Johnson had agreed to resign.

Sir Robert said that the UK still needed an interim government and it was their job "to be the caretakers to make sure that the work of government continues."

He remained in the role until Rishi Sunak became prime minister on 25 October and duly offered Mr Davies the job - a job he said he gladly accepted the second time round.

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