Andrew RT Davies Shadow Cabinet | |
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Shadow Cabinet of Wales | |
January 2021– May 2021 | |
Date formed | 24 January 2021 |
Date dissolved | 29 March 2021 |
People and organisations | |
Monarch | Elizabeth II |
Leader of the Opposition | Andrew RT Davies |
Member party | |
Status in legislature | Official Opposition 11 / 60 (18%) |
History | |
Legislature term | 5th Senedd |
Predecessor | Shadow Cabinet of Paul Davies |
Successor | Fourth Shadow Cabinet of Andrew RT Davies |
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.
Paul Davies was seen drinking with other politicians on the Senedd estate on 8 and 9 December 2020 that could have proven contrary to Welsh Government COVID alcohol ban that was brought in four days before. He apologised for his actions on the 19 January 2021 and the Conservative Group in the Senedd gave there unanimous support in a meeting on the 22 January for Paul Davies to stay as leader. The BBC reported that Paul Davies was considering stepping down in that meeting, and a report by the Senedd Commission said that it could be a possible breach of COVID rules. [1] There was much uproar by grassroots supporters and senior members of the Welsh Conservatives of his actions [2] and on 23 January Paul Davies stepped down with immediate effect. [3]
There was a short discussion between Conservative Members of the Senedd the following day where they gave their unanimous support for Andrew R. T. Davies to become leader. [4] He created a cabinet out of members left in the frontbench (Darren Miller, Nick Ramsey and Paul Davies had stepped down) on the same day. David Melding re-joined the cabinet after stepping down in September 2020 following disagreements with the parties Internal Market stance. [5]
On 29 March 2021, Nick Ramsay left the Welsh Conservative group in the Senedd, to run as an independent for his Monmouth seat, having been deselected by his local party. [6] This meant the Conservatives matched Plaid Cymru with 10 MSs, meaning there was no second largest party, and therefore no official opposition. Andrew RT Davies would form the next Shadow Cabinet after the 2021 Senedd Election, his fourth. [7]
This article is part of a series within the Politics of the United Kingdom on the |
Politics of Wales |
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Portfolio | Name | Constituency | Term | ||
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Leader of the Opposition | Andrew RT Davies MS | South Wales Central | Jan 2021 – March 2021 | ||
Shadow Minister for Health and Social Services | Angela Burns MS | Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire | Jan 2021 – March 2021 | ||
Shadow Minister for Finance, North Wales and Chief Whip | Mark Isherwood MS | North Wales | Jan 2021 – March 2021 | ||
Shadow Minister for Economy, Transport and Mid Wales | Russell George MS | Montgomeryshire | Jan 2021 – March 2021 | ||
Shadow Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs | Janet Finch-Saunders MS | Aberconwy | Jan 2021 – March 2021 | ||
Shadow Minister for Mental Health, Wellbeing, Culture and Sport | David Melding MS | South Wales Central | Jan 2021 – March 2021 | ||
Shadow Minister for Education, Skills and the Welsh Language | Suzy Davies MS | South Wales West | Jan 2021 – March 2021 | ||
Shadow Minister for Housing and Local Government, Equalities, Children and Young People | Laura Anne Jones MS | South Wales East | Jan 2021 – March 2021 | ||
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. He is also particularly notable for his advocacy for people with both physical and learning disabilities and impairments. He is himself deaf, and chairs cross party groups on disability, deaf issues and Autism, among others.
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.
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 Welsh Shadow Cabinet is formed from members of the official opposition in the Senedd, the largest party not part of the Welsh Government, to scrutinise ministers in the Welsh Cabinet. It is led by the Leader of the Opposition, who typically appoints members of the Senedd (MSs) from their party as shadow ministers with portfolios which mirror ministerial posts in the Cabinet who scrutinise ministers and can propose their own alternative policies. Other opposition parties in the Senedd also appoint frontbench teams of spokespeople who perform the same function. These are also sometimes styled as "shadow cabinets" by their parties, though unlike the Shadow Cabinet they have no official recognition. Since 2021, the Shadow Cabinet has been formed from members of the Welsh Conservatives led by Andrew RT Davies, who have alternated with Plaid Cymru as the official opposition in the Senedd since its establishment as the National Assembly for Wales in 1999.
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.
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.
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 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.
Tom Giffard is a Welsh Conservative politician who has served as Member of the Senedd (MS) for the region of South Wales West 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.
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.