Tories to vote on Andrew RT Davies' leadership

Conservative politicians will be asked on Tuesday whether they still support their leader in the Welsh Parliament.

Andrew RT Davies called a confidence vote after some Tory Members of the Senedd (MSs) raised concerns about his leadership.

The vote will be held in private at the weekly Tuesday morning meeting of the Conservative group in Cardiff Bay.

It follows months of rumblings about Mr Davies, who first became the Tories’ Senedd leader 13 years ago.

He has faced criticism this year over comments about halal meat in schools and for asking people at an agricultural show whether they thought the Senedd should be abolished.

Party sources confirmed there would be a confidence vote shortly after a small group of Tory MSs went to see Mr Davies at his office in Cardiff Bay last Thursday.

None of the 15 MSs led by Mr Davies has publicly called for him to quit, but others in the party have.

Former Downing Street spin doctor Guto Harri said on Monday Mr Davies should “look in the mirror and consider whether somebody else could do a better job”.

The Conservatives are the biggest opposition party to the Labour Welsh government.

But a poll on Monday suggested declining support left them in fourth place behind Labour, Plaid Cymru and Reform in the build-up to the 2026 Senedd election.

The Tories lost all their MPs in Wales at this year's general election.

Mr Davies was elected leader by party members in 2011. He was forced out in 2018, but was re-appointed in 2021.

His tenure has seen an ongoing debate about the Welsh leader’s status.

Mr Davies leads the Conservatives in the devolved parliament, but there have been repeated calls for that person also to be recognised as the party’s official leader in Wales.