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Tory deletes 'get rid of Senedd' social media post

Senedd Cymru Joel James addressed the Senedd's debating chamber, wearing a black suit, blue shirt and a tie.Senedd Cymru
Joel James deleted his message shortly after it was posted

The Welsh Conservatives have reiterated their support for devolution after one of their MSs posted comments on social media about getting "rid" of the Senedd.

Joel James' remarks - in a message that was swiftly deleted - came in response to the latest proposals for the Senedd's electoral boundaries ahead of the 2026 election.

A Welsh Conservative spokesperson said James had not "fully conveyed" the party's support for devolution in his post on X.

Joel James has been asked to comment.

In the post, the South Wales Central MS shared a link to BBC Wales' story about plans for the majority of constituencies for the Senedd to be given Welsh-only names.

He added the caption: "More and more reasons to get rid of the place..."

The message has now been removed but this was not the first time James has spoken out against devolution.

Ahead of the last Senedd election in 2021 leaked documents, relating to the process of selecting Tory candidates, showed James had said it was time to end Labour's "failed devolution experiment in Wales".

"I will challenge the cosy Cardiff Bay consensus that has underachieved for Wales for so long, I will continue to push Welsh Labour out of south Wales, and I will campaign to end devolution in Wales," he added.

X/Joel James A screengrab of the deleted message on X from Joel James. It says: "More and more reasons to get rid of the place - how do these super constituencies with nameless candidates deliver devolution and give people more power? Absolute farce". This is followed with a facepalm emoji. The message quotes a BBC News article, the headline of which says: "Welsh-only names for new Senedd seats revealed."X/Joel James

The Welsh Conservatives' official policy is to support devolution.

Responding to James' post on Tuesday, a party spokesperson said: "Joel fully understands the view of the Welsh Conservatives which is that we support devolution and want a Conservative government to use the powers of the Senedd to fix Wales.

"This was not fully conveyed in a deleted post on X."

The Conservatives' position on devolution has been in the spotlight in recent months after the party's former leader in Cardiff Bay Andrew RT Davies showed on social media he had asked constituents if they wanted to abolish the Senedd.

He said at the time that he was "keen to find out people's views".

Davies was replaced by Darren Millar earlier this month.

Days after taking on the role, Millar said the Welsh Conservatives were "pro-freedom of choice, pro-personal responsibility, pro-home ownership, pro-farming, pro-Wales and pro-devolution."