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| Turnout | 52% | |||||||||
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The 2018 Welsh Conservatives leadership election was triggered on 27 June by the resignation of Andrew RT Davies. [1]
Davies had led the Welsh Conservatives since 14 July 2011. [2]
Paul Davies won the contest and became the new leader.
Candidates require a total of four nominations from Conservative AMs, including themselves, to stand. [3] [4]
If there are three or more candidates, Conservative AMs vote until there are two candidates, who are then voted on by the party's membership. [5]
| 29 June | Nominations open |
| 16 July | Nominations close |
| 17 July | Nominations announced |
| 30 July | Hustings start |
| 10 August | Hustings end |
| 15 August | Voting opens |
| 5 September | Voting closes |
| 6 September | Count and declaration |
Leader Andrew RT Davies stood down in June 2018. WalesOnline reported that this was because he felt he did not have the full support of the Conservative group. [4] He told the BBC that he had been aware of plans to remove him for more than a year. [6] His departure was credited to what The Guardian described as his "uncompromising" support for Brexit. [7]
Deputy Leader Paul Davies was appointed as an Interim Leader, and announced that he would stand for the permanent leadership. [8] [9]
In July, Suzy Davies announced she would stand, saying that she thought it was important for the Welsh Conservatives to have a contested election. She said she would be willing to work with Plaid Cymru to get rid of the Labour government in Wales. [3] She supported reducing taxes, as well as giving some business rates proceeds to councils to use them for private sector-led local development strategies. Suzy Davies also argued for giving the private sector a "real stake in the communities in which they develop" and giving workers an "emotional stake" in their employers. [10]
Paul Davies launched his campaign in Gwent, pledging to give Welsh Conservative Party members a vote on any potential coalition in the Welsh Assembly. [11] He said he would consider cutting taxes in Wales, as well as supporting high street businesses and redesign the business rates system. [10]
The South Wales Argus described Paul Davies as having the support of "most of the big hitters in the party". [12]
| Candidate | Political roles | Nominations from AMs | Endorsements | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paul Davies [1] [13] |  | AM for Preseli Pembrokeshire since 2007 Deputy Leader of the Welsh Conservatives since 2011 | 3 / 1225.0% Nominations | Endorsements | |
| Suzy Davies [3] |  | AM for South Wales West since 2011 Shadow Minister for Tourism, Culture and the Welsh Language from 2011 to 2016 | 4 / 1233.3% Nominations | Endorsements | |
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Mark Allan Isherwood is a Welsh Conservative Party politician, who has served as a Member of the Senedd (MS) for the North Wales region since 2003. He is currently Shadow Counsel General and Shadow Minister for Housing and Planning. Isherwood has held a number of Shadow Ministerial positions for the Welsh Conservatives since he was first elected, at various points holding portfolios for Finance, Social Justice, North Wales, Europe, Housing, Communities and Local Government, among others.
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Nick Ramsay is a British politician who served as the Member of the Senedd (MS) for Monmouth from 2007 to 2021. Originally a member of the Welsh Conservatives, he served as Shadow Minister of Finance under Conservative Leader in the Senedd, Paul Davies, but lost the position in January 2021 under the new leadership of Andrew RT Davies. Ramsay sat as an Independent member before unsuccessfully seeking reelection as an Independent in the 2021 Senedd election.
Darren David Millar is a Welsh Conservative politician who has served as the Member of the Senedd (MS) for Clwyd West since 2007.
The Welsh Conservatives, also known as the Welsh Conservative Party, is the branch of the United Kingdom Conservative Party that operates in Wales. At Westminster elections, it is the second-most popular political party in Wales by vote share, having obtained the second-largest share of the vote at every general election since 1931. In Senedd elections, the Conservatives are currently the second-most supported party but have at times been third. As of 2024, they hold none of the 32 Welsh seats in the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and 16 of the 60 seats in the Senedd.
The 2011 National Assembly for Wales election was an election for the National Assembly. The poll was held on 5 May 2011 and decided the incumbency for all the Assembly's seats. It was the fourth election for seats in the National Assembly for Wales, and the second election taken under the rules of the Government of Wales Act 2006.
Thomas Alun Rhys Davies is a Welsh Labour and Co-operative party politician serving as the Member of the Senedd (MS) for Blaenau Gwent since 2011, and formerly Mid and West Wales from 2007 to 2011. He has served in several Welsh government offices, including Cabinet Secretary for Local Government and Public Services, Minister for Lifelong Learning and Welsh Language, and Minister for Natural Resources and Food.
Andrew Robert Tudor Davies CBE is a Welsh politician serving as Leader of the Welsh Conservative Group in the Senedd since 2021, previously holding the position from 2011 to 2018. He has been a Member of the Senedd (MS) since 2007.
Paul Windsor Davies is a British politician who has served as Member of the Senedd (MS) for Preseli Pembrokeshire since 2007. He served as Leader of the Welsh Conservatives and Leader of the Opposition in Wales from June 2018 to January 2021, resigning after possible breaches of Welsh COVID-19 rules. He had previously been Deputy Leader from 2011 to 2018 and Acting Leader in 2011 and 2018.
The 2007 National Assembly for Wales election was held on Thursday 3 May 2007 to elect members to the National Assembly for Wales. It was the third general election. On the same day local elections in England and Scotland, as well as the Scottish Parliament election took place. This election was preceded by the previous Assembly election in 2003.
Suzy Davies is a Welsh Conservative Party politician, who served as a Member of the Senedd (MS) for South Wales West from 2011 to 2021. She was elected first on the Welsh Conservatives party list for the region in the 2011 election.
Russell Ian George is a Welsh Conservative Party politician who has been the Montgomeryshire Member of the Senedd (MS) since the 2011 election.
The 2011 Welsh Conservatives leadership election was held on 14 July 2011. Andrew RT Davies defeated Nick Ramsay, the only other candidate.
In the Senedd, the Leader of the Opposition is the leader of the Official Opposition, the largest political party that is not in the Welsh Government. The Leader of the Opposition leads and appoints members of the Shadow Cabinet and as such is sometimes styled as the Shadow First Minister of Wales.
Paul Davies became the Leader of the Opposition in Wales after being elected as Leader of the Welsh Conservatives on 27 June 2018 and named his Shadow Cabinet in July.
The 1999 Welsh Conservatives leadership election was held in August 1999 to elect the leader of the Welsh Conservative Group in the National Assembly for Wales. The election was triggered by the resignation of Rod Richards after the Welsh Conservative Party failed to endorse his appointment of David TC Davies as acting leader after Richards was charged for inflicting grievous bodily harm, which he was later cleared of in 2000. Nick Bourne, who the party had appointed as acting leader in Davies' place, was elected unopposed as the new leader of the Welsh Conservative Group in the National Assembly as the only candidate nominated for the leadership by group members.
Nick Bourne became Leader of the Opposition in Wales after the Welsh Conservatives became the largest party that was not a part of the government in the National Assembly for Wales after the 2007 Assembly Elections. This was because the second largest overall party, Plaid Cymru, had entered into government as part of the One Wales coalition with Welsh Labour.
Andrew RT Davies became Leader of the Opposition in July 2011, after he was elected leader of the Welsh Conservatives, which formed the second largest party bloc in the National Assembly for Wales after the 2011 National Assembly for Wales election.
Leanne Wood became Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly for Wales after Plaid Cymru became the largest party not in government after the 2016 National Assembly for Wales election. 12 Plaid Cymru AMs were elected, as opposed to 11 Welsh Conservative AMs.
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