Senior Tory MP says his party should work with Plaid Cymru

David TC Davies is the most senior Welsh Conservative in Westminster

The most senior Welsh Conservative in Westminster says the party should try and do deals with others to end Labour's dominance of the Senedd.

Welsh Secretary David TC Davies said he would be open to working with Plaid Cymru.

Plaid are currently in a co-operation agreement with Welsh Labour.

But Mr Davies said the Conservatives and Plaid Cymru had shared interests especially around agriculture and the Welsh language.

Plaid Cymru said it was a "scramble for relevance" on behalf of the Tories.

The next election for the Welsh Parliament is in 2026.

The Welsh Conservative's leader in the Senedd, Andrew RT Davies, ruled out a deal with Plaid Cymru at the last election in 2021, calling the party "divisive separatists".

Labour has led each Senedd government since the start of devolution 25 years ago.

David TC Davies, who is a cabinet minister in the UK government, said that for many people in Wales voting Labour had become an "ingrained habit".

He said that the Conservatives winning an overall majority in the Senedd was "a bit ambitious", but that there was "no reason in principle why you shouldn't work with other political parties to take control of the Senedd if the opportunity arose."

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"There are two strands of Plaid Cymru," said Mr Davies.

"Plaid Cymru supporters who see themselves as socialists and then some of the Welsh-speaking communities of parts of west and north west Wales whose values are conservative with a small 'c'".

"I don't see why you couldn't work with them. I don't think the party in the Senedd should rule out a coalition. I would have no issue with that at all."

Such a deal would need agreement from Plaid Cymru, and Mr Davies acknowledged that there would be little room for compromise on independence.

Plaid support Wales being an independent country, while the Conservatives believe Wales should stay part of the UK.

Mr Davies said he thought the Welsh Conservatives were "doing a very good job," but that Labour was dominant in Wales.

The closest Wales has come to a coalition of parties other than Labour was in 2007, when plans for a deal between the Conservatives, Plaid Cymru and the Liberal Democrats was rejected by a Lib Dem special conference vote.

The Conservatives entered a coalition with the Lib Dems at Westminster in 2010, which lasted until 2015.

Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Conservatives in the Senedd were asked for comment.

A Plaid Cymru spokesperson said: "Ever since Vaughan Gething was confirmed as Wales' first minister, the Conservatives in Wales have been offering him their votes.

"This is the latest scramble for relevance in the face of impending electoral oblivion."

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