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Badenoch appoints new shadow Welsh secretary

BBC A picture of Mims Davies being interviewed on College Green in Westminster in bright sunshine wearing a red jacket in front of a blurred background of grass and treesBBC

Mims Davies has been named as the shadow Welsh secretary by new Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch.

The Tory MP for East Grinstead and Uckfield, in the southeast of England, replaces former Conservative MP Lord Davies of Gower and said she was "delighted" to take up the role.

"My love for Wales is enduring," she said, adding that she was "excited to be working closely" with the Welsh Conservatives and "standing up for Wales in Westminster once again".

Mims Davies studied politics and international relations at Swansea University and served as a Wales Office junior minister for three months under Theresa May in 2018.

In a statement on X, formerly Twitter, she said she was "truly thrilled" to also continue as shadow minister for women in Badenoch's team.

"Wales deserves so much better than these two failing Labour governments [in Wales and Westminster] - especially a better NHS, improved education, help for pensioners and actual support for hard working farmers," she said.

The MP previously told BBC Wales about her Welsh connections, saying she had lived in Swansea for nine years and describing her family as "half Welsh".

Tory leader in the Senedd, Andrew RT Davies, welcomed her appointment saying: “We in Wales are particularly looking forward to working with Mims Davies to make sure we can put an end to Labour rule in Wales as well as in Westminster."

Plaid Cymru Westminster leader Liz Saville Roberts congratulated Mims Davies "on her appointment as shadow secretary of State for Wales".

But she added: "As the MP for East Grinstead and Uckfield in Sussex, fair play to her for taking one for the team after the Tories failed to hold on to a single Welsh MP.

"It just goes to show that, after the general election, Plaid Cymru is the real Welsh opposition to Labour in Westminster."

Welsh Liberal Democrat deputy leader David Chadwick described the Tories as a "busted brand in Wales" and said his was the only large UK-wide party that could provide the "decent opposition" to Labour "that Wales needs".