The Welsh Conservative Party (), commonly the Welsh Conservatives (), is the branch of the United Kingdom Conservative Party that operates in Wales. They currently hold 7 of the 96 seats in the Senedd and none of the 32 Welsh seats in the House of Commons. In Senedd elections, the Conservatives are the fourth-most supported party but have at times been second and third. At Westminster elections and as of 1999, it was 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.Jones, B, Welsh Elections 1885 – 1997(1999), Lolfa
History
For a significant period of its electoral history, the Conservative Party in Wales was not one unified institution, instead several associations of the wider UK wide Conservative Party. Since the establishment of the franchise and expanded democratic participation in Wales, the Conservative Party has been a generally unsuccessful electoral force in elections to the UK Parliament. A great deal of their success in the late 19th and early 20th centuries came from borough constituencies which were largely enclaves of English voters within Wales.
In 1921 the Welsh Conservatives were formalised as an organisation as the Wales and Monmouthshire Conservative and Unionist Council, by the merger of the three existing Welsh provincial associations of the party's National Union.Melding, D, Have We Been Anti-Welsh? The Conservative Party and the Welsh Nation (2005), Cymdeithas Y Kymberiaid For much of their history, they were dominated by the party in England, even to the extent of supplying the Welsh Secretaries of State. It was after the establishment of the Assembly in 1999, which their members largely opposed, that they became more of a Welsh-orientated party.
Their first leader, the former Welsh Office Minister Rod Richards, showed a combative style of politics against the Labour government. However Richards resigned shortly after the Assembly had become established in response to allegations of an assault, of which he was later cleared. Nick Bourne, a law professor and former leader of the No campaign in the Welsh Assembly referendum, then became the leader, in an unopposed election. From 1999 to 2007, the party remained firmly in opposition in Wales, opposed to forming an alliance with other political parties. This changed after the indecisive 2007 election, when the Welsh Conservatives were briefly involved in coalition talks on a "rainbow coalition" with the Welsh Liberal Democrats and Plaid Cymru, which collapsed after the Liberal Democrats backed out. Plaid Cymru ruled itself out of joining the Conservatives in a coalition on an ideological basis. Plaid Cymru and Labour eventually formed the government under the terms of their One Wales agreement. As a result of the agreement, the Conservatives, the largest opposition party, became the Official Opposition in the Welsh Assembly.
In the otherwise mainly successful Welsh Assembly elections of 2011, the long serving Welsh Conservative leader, Nicholas Bourne (2000–2011) lost his regional list seat in Mid and West Wales. This was because the party secured a significant number of constituency seats, meaning they were not assigned any regional list seats. He had been the longest serving of the party political leaders in the Welsh Assembly.
The Preseli Pembrokeshire Assembly Member Paul Davies then became the Interim Leader whilst an election took place. The contest was between Andrew RT Davies (South Wales Central) and Nick Ramsay (Monmouthshire). Andrew RT Davies won with some 53.1 per cent of the vote on a 49 per cent turnout of the party's Welsh membership. Also in the post-May 2011 Welsh Assembly elections period, David Melding (South Wales Central) was elected as the Deputy Presiding Officer of the Welsh Assembly, the first time a Conservative had held this post.
At the 2021 Senedd election, the Welsh Conservatives won eight constituency seats, taking Vale of Clwyd from Welsh Labour and Brecon and Radnorshire from the Welsh Liberal Democrats and 26.1 per cent of the constituency vote across Wales, their best constituency seats results since creation of the Senedd in 1999.
In the 2022 Welsh local elections, the Conservatives lost half their councillors across Wales and lost control of Monmouthshire County Council.
The Conservatives won seven seats at the 2026 Senedd election with much of their vote share going to Reform UK. This was their worst result since devolution.
Leadership In the Senedd, the Welsh Conservative Group have their own leader who is often referred to as the Leader of the Welsh Conservatives, sometimes including by the leader themselves. The Leader of the Welsh Conservative Group in the Senedd has been described as the de facto leader of the Conservative Party in Wales, although the UK party leadership has rejected this claim and criticised the use of the title Leader of the Welsh Conservatives, stating that the UK party leader is the only leader in Wales while the group leader only leads it in the Senedd. This lack of recognition has led to calls from senior figures in the Welsh party, including former leader Andrew RT Davies and current chair Lord Davies of Gower to introduce an official devolved leadership position for the Welsh Conservatives with constitutional recognition from the Conservative Party, like with Welsh Labour and the Scottish Conservatives. This proposal has been criticised by senior figures in the UK party, including former secretary of state for Wales Cheryl Gillan, who described it as "irritating" and a "distraction".
The Leader of the Welsh Conservative Group in the Senedd is usually elected by the party membership. The position was first introduced in November 1998, when a leadership contest was held to elect a leader for the Conservatives in the National Assembly for Wales, now known as the Senedd, ahead of the first elections to the devolved legislature in 1999. The winner of that election was Rod Richards, who was elected as the first leader of the Welsh Conservative Group. He resigned in 1999 after being accused of assault, originally for a temporary period, and appointed his deputy David TC Davies as acting leader. This was overruled shortly after with Nick Bourne taking Davies's place as acting leader, leading Richards to resign in protest. After Richards's resignation, Bourne was officially elected as leader having stood for the position unopposed. He left the role after losing his assembly seat in the 2011 assembly election and Andrew RT Davies was elected to succeed him in that year. RT Davies resigned in 2018 after being informed that he did not have the confidence of all group members to continue serving in the role, with Paul Davies becoming acting leader until being officially elected as leader later that year. Paul Davies resigned after breaking COVID-19 restrictions in 2021 and Andrew RT Davies was re-elected as leader for a second time, being unopposed for the role. On 3 December 2024, Davies announced he would stand down from the role, after he narrowly won a confidence vote by 9 votes to 7. He said he believed his leadership to be untenable with a substantial minority in the group against him. Darren Millar succeeded Davies two days later, after facing no opposition in the 2024 Welsh Conservatives leadership election.
No. Image Name Term start Term end1 Rod Richards 10 November 1998 10 August 1999 Nick Bourne was interim leader during this period 2 Nick Bourne 18 August 1999 6 May 2011 Paul Davies was interim leader during this period3 Andrew RT Davies 14 July 2011 27 June 2018 Paul Davies was interim leader during this period4 Paul Davies 6 September 2018 23 January 2021(3) :Andrew RT Davies 24 January 2021 5 December 20245 Darren Millar 5 December 2024 Incumbent
Election results House of Commons
Election Wales +/– % Seats 1922 21.4 1923 21.0 2 1924 28.3 5 1929 21.9 8 1931 22.1 5 1935 23.3 1945 16.5 3 1950 21.0 1951 27.6 2 1955 26.7 1959 29.6 1 1964 27.6 1966 27.0 3 1970 27.7 4 Feb 1974 25.9 1 Oct 1974 23.9 1979 32.2 3 1983 31.0 3 1987 29.5 6 1992 28.6 2 1997 19.6 6 2001 21.0 2005 21.4 3 2010 26.1 5 2015 27.2 3 2017 33.6 3 2019 36.1 6 2024 18.2 14
Senedd
ElectionConstituencyRegionalVotes%Total seats+/–Government Votes % Seats Votes % Seats 1999 162,133 15.8 168,206 16.5 2003 169,832 19.9 162,725 19.2 2 2007 218,730 22.4 209,153 21.4 1 2011 237,388 25.0 213,773 22.5 2 2016 215,597 21.1 190,846 18.8 3 2021 289,802 26.1 278,560 25.1 5 2026 134,926 10.7 9 Local councils
Election Votes % Councils ± Seats ± 1993 84,909 12.5 1995 75,448 8.1 10 1999 99,565 10.1 33 2004 99,991 11.0 1 32 2008 148,708 15.6 2 19 2012 108,365 12.8 2 66 2017 182,520 18.8 1 792022 145,115 15.3 1 86 European Parliament Election Wales +/– % Seats 1979 36.6 1984 25.4 1989 23.5 1 1994 14.6 1999 22.8 1 2004 19.4 2009 21.2 2014 17.4 2019 6.5 1
Appointments
House of Lords + No. Name Date ennobled 1. Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth 2013 2. Lord Harlech 2021 (Hereditary) 3. Lord Gilbert of Panteg 2015 4. Lord Davies of Gower 2019 5. Lord Griffiths of Fforestfach 1991 6. Lord Trefgarne of Cleddau 1962 (Hereditary) 7. Lord Wolfson of Tredegar 2021 8. Baroness Finn of Swansea 2015 9. Baroness Swinburne 2023 10. Olivia Bloomfield, Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist 2016
Notes
References