There may be some who have a bit of sympathy for the Welsh Conservatives Paul Davies , overshadowed by his counterpart in Scotland who bears the title of "Leader of the Scottish Conservatives", Paul can only manage the Welsh Conservative assembly leader.
It must be humiliating to be given the same sought of status as English Parish Council group leader in the eyes of his Westminster masters and the party at large.
On the eve of his party conference faced with Plaid hogging the headlines in Wales as they elect a new leader who is already better known and more visible than he desperately, needed a headline.
So he puts forward his case that Carwyn Jones’ successor as First Minister will lack a mandate to lead Wales so a snap Assembly election should be called,
The newly elected Tory leader argues that the leadership changes at the top of the parties in the Assembly mean it is time for a new election.
Mr Davies won the race to lead the Conservative group in early September, taking over from Andrew RT Davies; Plaid Cymru’s Adam Price was last week named as the successor to Leanne Wood; Ukip’s Gareth Bennett replaced Caroline Jones in August, and nominations have formally opened to choose a new Welsh Labour leader.
Preseli Pembrokeshire AM Mr Davies will tell the Conservative conference in Birmingham today:
“Whoever emerges as the next First Minister, this much is clear. The people should have the opportunity to have their say.
“You will have no mandate to govern the people of Wales. Only an Assembly election will give you that.
“So I’m calling on the wannabe leaders of the Welsh Labour party to commit to give us that election
Paul Davies said the next Welsh Labour leader - and first minister - would not have a mandate to govern when they are elected in December.
But UK Conservative leader Theresa May said the focus should be on Brexit.
Senior Welsh Tory sources have said Mr Davies's speech was approved by Downing Street.
Of course it's nothing to do with Mrs May when and if snap elections are called. It is purely up to the Assembly.
Two thirds of AMs must vote in favour before a snap election can be held. The next assembly election is due to take place in 2021. So unless Labour AM were to back it it would not happen.
Apparently confident that a new poll would command public support, he said: “I think the general public would want a say on who the next First Minister should be.”
The Conservatives and Plaid Cymru came close to sharing power in 2007 – a deal which would have led to the first non-Labour First Minister – but Mr Price appeared to rule out a coalition with the Tories during the leadership campaign.
Mr Davies will say:
“I have a message for Adam Price. The people of Wales are crying out for a change of Government in Cardiff Bay.
Prop up another Labour administration at your peril. The message is clear – we will never agree on everything, but where we can, let’s work together in the interests of the people of Wales to deliver the change Wales needs.”
Mr Davies’ call for a new Assembly election got short shrift from Deputy Welsh Labour leader Carolyn Harris.
She said:
“There is absolutely no appetite for any more elections in Wales at the moment. We just need to elect our leader and get on with leading the country... There’s absolutely no appetite at all.”Though this does not apply to Westminster elections apparently.
Strangely since Labour often try and raise the spectre of a Plaid-Tory administration in Cardiff Bay Deputy Welsh Labour leader Carolyn Harris.also sceptical about the potential for a Conservative-Plaid link-up, saying:
“We know that Plaid is extremely insistent on having independence... I don’t imagine any Conservative Government, whether in Wales or in England, would be supporting independence for Wales now or at any time in the future.”
Indeed if Plaid want to change the economic and social structure in Wales, then any Plaid administration leaders or as junior partners must insist on parity with Scotland when it comes to powers.
This is not going to come from either the Tories or indeed Labour, only a Plaid majority,or significant minority can achieve this.
That's the challenge for Adam Price leading up to the 2021 elections.
3 comments:
Leanne Woods was going to resign as Plaid Cymru Leader if the party did not get a majority at the next Senedd Election. Et tu Adam?
If Boris Johnson - or Rees Mogg or whoever - succeeds in toppling Theresa May in the next few weeks i wonder if Paul Davies will also call for a 'snap election' at westminster? Given how the tories would be likely to be trounced i strongly suspect he wont.
And with regards to his 'offer' to Plaid and Adam Price maybe Paul Davies missed this campaign pledge from Adam 3 weeks ago https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-45483297
It was silly to call for an election after the Labour leadership election at a party conference with Theresa May on the platform. She did not hold an election when she was elected in internal party elections. She reject such calls at the time.
It would also be interesting to know how many votes he received when he was elected leader of the Tory Assembly group. As far as I'm aware only a percentage figure was announced. Could it be that the numbers who took part in the election were very low!
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