'Unlikely' there'll be a contest to replace Andrew RT Davies as Welsh conservatives leader

Andrew RT Davies announced his resignation from the top job on Tuesday following a confidence vote. He won that vote but acknowledged that the group was split and that his position was untenable. Credit: PA

The Senedd Member for Clwyd West, Darren Millar, is now all but certain to become the next leader of the Conservatives in the Welsh Parliament.

Mr Millar has received public support from every one of the Tory group in the Senedd, including the outgoing leader Andrew RT Davies.

Nominations officially close at five o'clock this evening but it's now clear that there won't be another candidate.

Andrew RT Davies announced his resignation from the top job on Tuesday following a confidence vote. He won that vote but acknowledged that the group was split and that his position was untenable.

A coronation could be seen by senior figures in the party as a way of uniting the divided group.

But it’s likely to go down badly with grassroots members. Several have told me in the last 48 hours that there should be a contest in order to allow a debate about the direction of the party here in Wales.

Some of those are already angry about the group’s move to oust Mr Davies. One who asked to remain anonymous told me that “Many of us now question our future in the Welsh Conservatives. We were on a death spiral anyhow - we are now seemingly heading into the political abyss. Reform can't believe their luck. Members are absolutely furious."

The longstanding Conservative councillor in Newport, David Fouweather, told me that the party's Senedd group has "lost touch with the membership".

"A significant number of members want the opportunity to set party policy, certainly around whether we want to continue with devolution. If Reform were to harness that policy they would do significant damage.”

Responding to the news, a Welsh Liberal Democrat spokesperson said: "In July, Welsh voters delivered their devastating verdict on the Conservatives, booting out every single Tory MP in Wales.

"Re-arranging the deckchairs in their Senedd group isn’t going to make anyone forget their record of incompetence, sleaze, and failure."

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