Llancarfan school row prompts Tory AM to stand for council

Andrew RT Davies: "I have been fighting the proposal from day one"

The Conservatives' former leader in the Welsh Assembly is standing for his local Tory-run council to fight the closure of a village school.

Vale of Glamorgan Council has plans to merge Llancarfan Primary School with another school and move pupils to a new £4m site in Rhoose.

Andrew RT Davies said he was "bitterly opposed" to the plan.

Labour said he "cannot be an honest broker" because his party is in charge of the local authority.

A by-election has been caused by the resignation in December of Matthew Lloyd as a Conservative councillor for Rhoose in protest against the council's plans to move Llancarfan pupils to the new site.

Parents fears the loss of the school's village ethos if pupils move to Rhoose

Mr Davies said he would support the Conservative administration on all other issues apart from the future of the school.

"I have been fighting the proposal from day one, whether it was the [previous] Labour council or Conservative council," he said.

"I believe that rural schools are the very fabric of rural life,

"I genuinely believe there's a fight to be had here around Llancarfan school and the wider ability of Rhoose to benefit from further investment."

• Election after school row councillor quits

• Rural school closures 'rushed through'

• Davies quits as Welsh Conservative leader

Mr Davies, who led the Tory assembly group for seven years, said he would not quit his seat as an AM for South Wales Central if he won the council by-election on 14 February.

Council leader John Thomas told the Local Democracy Reporting Service Mr Davies was a "strong candidate" who would be an asset to the Conservative group.

But he insisted that the decision on the school was in "the best interests of the children we're educating in Llancarfan and the Vale in general".

Nominations close on Friday.