‘Conservative campaign in Wales needed a local focus’
WELSH Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies has complained that his party’s General Election campaign in Wales was controlled from London, writes Martin Shipton.
The Tories had high hopes of winning seats from Labour, but in fact lost three – Cardiff North, Gower and Vale of Clwyd.
In an article for the Sunday Express, Mr Davies, points out that the Conservatives gained the highest share of the vote in Wales at a general election for more than 80 years – but claims Labour was able to do better because it was able to manage its own campaign.
He states: “Once the dust has settled, there will be time to conduct a thorough autopsy. But the truth is that we simply didn’t see it coming, and the end result has been desperately sad for the three fantastic MPs that we lost here in Wales. Disappointing, too, for the many excellent candidates we had across the country and the activists who work tirelessly to keep the machine going.”
He says there were two stories in Wales from the Tory perspective – the bitter disappointment of losing seats to Labour, and a vote share in Wales that was higher than in any general election in Wales since the 1930s.
“On 34% of the vote we returned eight seats on Thursday, while in 2015 we returned with 11, despite receiving a share of only 29%,” he states.
“The difference in part was the fact that Welsh Labour were able to fight a local campaign, hiding Jeremy Corbyn from all of their literature during the early days of the campaign – and yet still able to benefit from a late surge in his popularity nationally.
“Meanwhile, the left-wing vote in Wales coalesced around Labour, with the nationalists and Liberals haemorrhaging support in most seats.
“Sadly, the decision to allow the UK messaging to marginalise our own, successful brand of Welsh Conservatism meant that we were not in a position to capitalise on those shifting sands in Welsh politics.”
Mr Davies had told Saturday’s Western Mail that the Tories lacked a “designated political leader in Wales”, saying: “There isn’t a single individual who can call the shots here in Wales.
“I am the leader in the Assembly and that to me has been a deficit that has needed to be addressed for some considerable time, about a single identifiable leader here in Wales to give that Welsh Conservative edge.”
Yesterday he compared the results in the General Election to the Welsh Conservatives’ “record-breaking local government election result”, almost doubling their council representation and putting the Tories in power in six Welsh local authorities all over Wales.
According to Mr Davies, this was “proof that locally driven campaigns work”.
He added: “We can look to Scotland for some of the answers. [Scottish Tory leader] Ruth Davidson was free to fight a local campaign and made huge strides with a clear and distinct offer. In Scotland, after all, there is a constitutional figurehead and a greater sense of autonomy from the central party.
“I have long believed that the Welsh Conservatives need to be more than just a corporate brand. We are proud unionists, but we cannot keep fighting general elections without acknowledging the need for distinctive messaging.
“Health and education have been devolved to the Welsh Assembly for many years, and the decision to allow London messaging to take centre-stage only confused our offering.
“That said, the results proved that there is a strong and growing Conservative vote in Wales, and those of us who were attached to the successful Vote Leave campaign in 2016 learnt that a positive message of hope and opportunity can persuade people to vote. We simply didn’t manage that during this campaign.”
He said nevertheless that the Government had to get on with the job of negotiating terms with the 27 remaining members of the European Union.