The secretary of state for Wales, also referred to as the Welsh secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Wales Office. The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom.
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.
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.
Darren David Millar is a Welsh politician who has served as the leader of the Welsh Conservatives since December 2024, and 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.
Andrew Robert Tudor Davies CBE is a Welsh politician who has served as Member of the Senedd for the South Wales Central region since 2007.
Paul Windsor Davies is a British politician who has served as Member of the Senedd (MS) for Preseli Pembrokeshire since 2007, and as Shadow Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution and External Affairs and Welsh Conservative Chief Whip since December 2024.
Russell Ian George is a Welsh Conservative Party politician who has been the Montgomeryshire Member of the Senedd (MS) since the 2011 election.
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.
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.
James Evans is a Welsh Conservative Party politician and farmer, who has served as the Member of the Senedd (MS) for Brecon and Radnorshire since the 2021 Senedd election, as Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care since December 2024. He previously served as councillor for Gwernyfed ward on Powys County Council.
Natasha Asghar is a Welsh Conservative Party politician who has served as Member of the Senedd for the South Wales East region since 2021, and Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Education since December 2024. Her father Mohammad Asghar represented the same constituency until his death in 2020. She is the first female ethnic minority member of the Senedd. She stood for the Conservative Party's nomination for Mayor of London in the 2024 mayoral election, but was not shortlisted.
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.
Sam Rowlands is a Welsh Conservative politician serving as Member of the Senedd (MS) for the North Wales electoral region since 2021, and Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Finance since December 2024. He has also formerly served as Shadow Health Minister, and as the Leader of Conwy County Borough Council from 2019 to 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.
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.
Andrew RT Davies became Leader of the Opposition in the Senedd on 6 April 2017, after he invited Mark Reckless to join the Welsh Conservative Senedd group, making the Welsh Conservative group the second largest group in the Senedd.
The 2024 Welsh Conservatives leadership election was triggered by the resignation of Andrew RT Davies on 3 December 2024. Darren Millar was the only candidate who stepped forward for the leadership. As no other candidate was nominated by the deadline for nominations at 17:00 GMT on 5 December, he was elected unopposed as the new leader of the Welsh Conservative Group in the Senedd.
