2021 Welsh Conservatives leadership election

Last updated

2021 Welsh Conservatives leadership election
  2018 23–24 January 2021
  Andrew RT Davies 2016.jpg
Candidate Andrew RT Davies
PercentageUnopposed

Leader before election

Paul Davies

Elected Leader

Andrew RT Davies

The 2021 Welsh Conservatives leadership election was triggered on 23 January 2021 by the resignation of Paul Davies as leader of the Welsh Conservatives following a possible breach of COVID-19 regulations. Davies announced his intention to step down from the role with immediate effect after pictures emerged of a group of Senedd members, including Davies, drinking alcohol at the Senedd building during December 2020, shortly after the purchase and public consumption of alcohol had been banned in Wales as one of the COVID restrictions. His resignation occurred a few months before the scheduled 2021 Senedd election. [1]

Davies' colleague, Darren Millar, who was also among the group, announced he would be stepping down from his role with immediate effect. [2]

There was a short discussion between Conservative Members of the Senedd the following day where they gave their unanimous support for Andrew RT Davies to become leader. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laura Anne Jones</span> British politician (born 1979)

Laura Anne Jones is a Conservative politician who has been the Member of the Senedd (MS) for the South Wales East electoral region since July 2020, having previously held the same seat as an Assembly Member (AM) in the National Assembly for Wales between 2003 and 2007. Jones also served as a county councillor for the Wyesham ward in Monmouthshire County Council from 2017 to 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Isherwood (politician)</span> Welsh Conservative politician

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick Ramsay</span> Welsh politician

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darren Millar</span> Welsh Conservative politician, MS for Clwyd West

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alun Davies (politician)</span> Welsh Labour politician and Senedd (Welsh Parliament) Minister for Blaenau Gwent

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew RT Davies</span> Welsh politician (born 1968)

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Davies (Conservative politician)</span> Former Leader of the Welsh Conservative Party

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Suzy Davies</span> Welsh politician

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russell George (Welsh politician)</span> Welsh Conservative Party politician

Russell Ian George is a Welsh Conservative Party politician who has been the Montgomeryshire Member of the Senedd (MS) since the 2011 election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 Welsh Conservatives leadership election</span>

The 2018 Welsh Conservatives leadership election was triggered on 27 June by the resignation of Andrew RT Davies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leader of the Opposition (Wales)</span> Parliamentary position in Wales

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.

In the run-up to the 2021 Senedd election, various organisations carried out opinion polling to gauge voting intentions. Results of such polls are displayed in this list. Most of the pollsters listed are members of the British Polling Council (BPC) and abide by its disclosure rules.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shadow Cabinet of Paul Davies</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Third Shadow Cabinet of Andrew RT Davies</span> Senedds shadow cabinet in 2021

Andrew RT Davies became the Leader of the Opposition in Wales on the 24 January 2021 after the resignation of Paul Davies as leader the following day. On 29 March 2021, Nick Ramsay left the Welsh Conservative group, meaning it was no longer the largest party not in government in the Senedd, and therefore no longer the official opposition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joel James (politician)</span> Welsh politician

Joel James is a Welsh Conservative politician who has served as a Member of the Senedd (MS) for the region of South Wales Central since the 2021 Senedd election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fourth Shadow Cabinet of Andrew RT Davies</span> Senedd Shadow Cabinet since 2021

Andrew RT Davies became the Leader of the Opposition in Wales after the 2021 Senedd election, when the Welsh Conservatives became the second largest party in the Senedd, with 16 seats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shadow Cabinet of Nick Bourne</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Shadow Cabinet of Andrew RT Davies</span>

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.

References

  1. Duffy, Elle (23 January 2021). "Welsh Tory leader quits after drinking with politicians despite lockdown booze ban". The Herald . Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  2. "Tory Senedd leader Paul Davies quits over alcohol row". BBC News. 23 January 2021. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  3. "Andrew RT Davies returns as Welsh Conservatives leader". BBC News. 24 January 2021. Retrieved 24 January 2021.