The big challenge for Welsh Tories

THE Welsh Conservative Assembly leadership contest will result in a radical change of tone at the top of the party.

The previous leader, Andrew RT Davies, described himself as “19 stone of prime Welsh beef ” and was a proud tub-thumping farmer who embraced Brexit with gusto and turned his guns on Airbus when it warned of the possible consequences of leaving the EU.

His potential successors share the same surname but have a very different approach to politics.

Preseli Pembrokeshire AM Paul Davies is softly spoken and courteous; he spoke only Welsh in his early childhood and he has twice been entrusted with the task of serving as interim leader.

South Wales West AM Suzy Davies would be the first woman to lead the Conservative group and she is far from being a dyed-in-the -wool Tory. She has a background in law and the arts and, like Mr Davies, stresses that she has friendships that cross the party divide.

Mr RT Davies’ arrival in the leadership marked a bold shift in approach to that taken by his predecessor Lord Bourne. Under his tenure, the party had worked to take the rough edges off the Conservative brand and to emphasise its support for the Welsh language and devolution.

The surest route to power appeared to involve forging an alliance with Plaid Cymru, and this nearly happened in 2007. Plaid may have chosen to go into power with Rhodri Morgan’s party but the fraught post-election period demonstrated that it was by no means guaranteed that a non-Labour coalition could not form a government in Wales.

The chances of such an alliance forming radically reduced with Mr RT Davies at the helm of the Tories and Leanne Wood leading Plaid Cymru; and there would still be opposition to a deal which put Conservatives in senior posts.

Nevertheless, the next Tory leader will work to expand the appeal of their party and show floating voters that they share important values in common. If they can win the Labour-held seats that turned blue in the 2015 Westminster election – Gower and the Vale of Clwyd – and take the likes of Cardiff North (all of which were won by Labour in 2017) – and the Vale of Glamorgan, they will create the sense that historic change is under way.

The idea that it is time for a change is one of the most powerful arguments a party can deploy. The challenge for Welsh Tories is to convince you that they are the change we need.