Welsh Tory leader not on list for suspension calls, memo reveals

Paul Davies backed Boris Johnson in the Conservative leadership campaign

Downing Street planned to alert the then Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson to the plan to suspend Parliament, but not Welsh Assembly group leader Paul Davies, a confidential memo reveals.

It shows a senior aide to Boris Johnson was due to call Ms Davidson and the DUP while Mr Johnson briefed the cabinet.

The memo is a timetable of how No 10 wanted the day to unfold, but the story was leaked to the media first.

Welsh Tories say the prime minister did call Mr Davies after the leak.

No 10 had wanted the news of the suspension to be made public on the afternoon of Wednesday 28 August.

There were plans for the prime minister to brief the cabinet at 14:45 BST that afternoon. The memo says that, at the same time, "Eddie Lister will call the DUP and Ruth Davidson", referring to Mr Johnson's chief of staff Sir Edward Lister.

Paul Davies's name does not appear on the list of people to call

There is no mention of Paul Davies, the leader of the Conservative group in the Welsh Assembly, who has been lobbying Downing Street to be officially recognised as the Welsh Tory leader since his election by Welsh Conservative members just over a year ago.

The document was revealed to the High Court as part of the failed challenge to the UK government's decision to suspend Parliament.

However, the Welsh Conservatives have confirmed Mr Davies was called by the prime minister, mid-morning on the Wednesday.

This was at a time before the planned call to Ruth Davidson was due to have taken place but, in the event, the story had already leaked.

A spokeswoman for the Welsh Conservatives said: "Paul was pleased to have been phoned by the prime minister and advised about the situation.

"The prime minister shows his commitment to Wales through his close communication with Paul and the Welsh Conservatives."

No 10 has been approached for comment.

'No impact'

The apparent failure of Mr Davies to appear on No 10's radar will reinforce concerns from some in the Welsh Conservative Party about his profile.

Prof Roger Awan-Scully, of the Welsh Governance Centre at Cardiff University, said the polling data since Mr Davies's election suggests he has "made pretty much no impact on the Welsh public at all".

But he said the problem was partly down to confusion within Welsh Tory ranks as to whether their leader is Mr Davies or the Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns.

"Ruth Davidson was the very clear leader in Scotland and the central face of the 2017 election campaign," said Mr Awan-Scully.

"They don't have a clear central role in Wales and they also don't have a figure equipped to take it up if such a role existed."

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Meanwhile, a Welsh Tory source criticised Paul Davies's performance, claiming he was not doing enough to get his message out to the public.

The source said Mr Davies had to "push himself out there", adding: "We need to be saying what we are thinking and what our alternative is."

However, another Conservative source rejected the idea that the assembly group leader was being ignored by Downing Street.

"Paul attended political cabinet on Wednesday - he's got more access than any of his predecessors have had," they said.