Senedd election: Tories promise NHS cash and tax freeze

Voters go to the polls in the Senedd election in May

The Welsh Conservatives have promised more cash for the NHS, to build more roads and freeze council tax if they win May's Senedd election.

Launching its election campaign, the party said its policies would help "build a better Wales".

It comes as the Tories outlined housing policies to help make the dream of home ownership "a reality for hardworking people and families".

They enter the election as the second biggest party, with 11 of the 60 seats.

In an online video, Senedd Tory leader Andrew RT Davies said: "If the past year has shown us anything, it's that when it comes to the crunch, people in Wales step up.

"So now we need a Welsh government that does the same.

"We have a plan for our nation's recovery — a plan that reaches every city, town and community in Wales. North, south, east and west."

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The party's best performance in devolved elections came in 2011 when it won 14 seats.

On the eve of the Plaid Cymru conference, the Conservatives ruled out any deals with Plaid after the Welsh Parliament elections.

Mr Davies has now also ruled out doing any post-election deal with the Abolish the Welsh Assembly Party.

He told BBC One's Politics Wales programme: "If you vote Welsh Conservative, you'll get a Welsh Conservative, and that's really important.

"We know that 550,000 people voted Welsh Conservative in 2019 and we're the only opposition party that's in a position to say that and actually be in a position to make a change here in Wales."

Asked whether his party would work with Abolish in the Senedd, Mr Davies replied: "I see no reason why we (would) want to work with them whatsoever."

As part of its Senedd election campaign launch, the party has outlined its "Welsh Conservative guarantee".

This includes:

• A council tax freeze for at least the next two years

• Working with UK government to invest £2bn to build the M4 relief road, upgrades to the A55 and A40, and green charging points

• New hospitals and extra funding for the NHS every year, with 3,000 more nurses and 1,200 doctors

• Delivering 5,000 more teachers and more investment in Welsh education.

Andrew RT Davies said the council tax freeze would cost between £80m and £90m a year

The Conservatives said the two year council tax freeze was to help people who "have real pressures in the cost of living at the moment".

Mr Davies said: "It'll cost between about £80m and £90m [a year] and put about £70 to £80 in the average householder's pocket.

"That'll be for the average householder to spend locally as they see fit to settle their household bills."

Asked why the party's message of change would resonate with the Welsh public in this election, the Senedd leader replied: "If people do want to generally change and turn the page on May the 6th then they need to vote Welsh Conservative.

"We're the only party that has had enough votes over the last couple of years to show that we've got enough votes in the country to make that happen," he added.

It's the "election of a generation", Andrew RT Davies told me during a socially distanced interview outside his office.

Covid-19 ensured it was certainly a very different campaign launch to the usual - no audience, no big event, just a single video uploaded on to the Welsh Conservatives' social media platforms.

For many reasons, the pandemic makes this a tough election to predict with all parties saying an inability to properly campaign makes it difficult to judge the public mood.

Nevertheless, Tory sources have long told me they are quietly confident they can beat their current record of 14 seats won in the 2011 election.

The party is pursuing a 75% strategy - encourage enough of the more than 550,000 people who voted for the Conservatives in Wales in the 2019 general election and they could be in with a chance, since around 400,000 votes for Labour in 2011 is the current high watermark.

But unless there is a political earthquake of truly historic proportions, then the expectation is they would need to work with other parties in order to govern.

So, having ruled out deals with Plaid Cymru and the Abolish the Assembly Party, the Tories seem to be closing off a number of possible routes to power.