Welsh Conservatives

Welsh Conservatives Ceidwadwyr Cymreig
Leader of the Welsh Conservative Group	Andrew RT Davies[1]
President	Lord Davies of Gower
Founded	1921
Headquarters	Unit 5 Rhymney House Parc Ty Glas Llanishen Cardiff CF14 5DU
Ideology	Conservatism[2] Economic liberalism[2] British unionism
Political position	Centre-right
European affiliation	Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe
International affiliation	International Democrat Union
UK Parliament affiliation	Conservative Party (UK)
Colours	Blue
Senedd	16 / 60
House of Commons (Welsh seats)	14 / 40
Local government in Wales[3]	166 / 1,253
Website
www.conservatives.wales
Politics of Wales Political parties Elections

The Welsh Conservatives (Welsh: Ceidwadwyr Cymreig) is the branch of the United Kingdom Conservative Party that operates in Wales. At Westminster elections, it is the second most popular political party in Wales, having obtained the second-largest share of the vote at every general election since 1931.^[4] In Senedd elections, the Conservatives are currently the second most supported party but have at times been third. They hold fourteen of the forty Welsh seats in the UK Parliament, and sixteen of the sixty seats in the Senedd.

At the 2021 Senedd election, the Welsh Conservatives won 8 constituency seats, taking the Vale of Clwyd from Welsh Labour and Brecon and Radnorshire from the Welsh Liberal Democrats and 26.1% of the constituency vote across Wales, their best constituency seats results since the creation of the Senedd in 1999.

History[]

The Welsh Conservatives were formed (as the Wales and Monmouthshire Conservative and Unionist Council) in 1921 by the merger of the three existing Welsh Provincial Associations of the Party's National Union.^[5] For much of their history they were dominated by the party in England, even to the extent of supplying the Welsh Secretaries of State. It was after the Assembly came to be established in 1999, which their members opposed, that they adjusted to becoming more of a Welsh orientated party. Their first leader, the former Welsh Office Minister Rod Richards, showed a combative style of politics against the Labour government. Richards subsequently resigned shortly after the Assembly had become established in response to allegations of an assault, from which he was later cleared.^[6] Nicholas Bourne, a law professor and former leader of the No campaign in the Welsh Assembly referendum then became the leader, in an election that was unopposed. From 1999 to 2007 the party remained firmly in opposition in Wales, opposed to forming an alliance with other political parties. This changed in 2007 when the Welsh Conservatives were briefly involved in coalition talks after the indecisive 2007 election on a "rainbow coalition" with the Welsh Liberal Democrats and Plaid Cymru which collapsed after the Liberal Democrats backed out. Plaid Cymru ruled itself out of having a coalition with the Conservatives on an ideological basis. Plaid Cymru and Labour eventually formed the government under the terms of their One Wales agreement.^[7] As a result of the agreement, the Conservatives, the largest opposition party, became the Official Opposition in the Welsh Assembly.

In the otherwise mainly successful Welsh Assembly elections of 2011 the long serving Welsh Conservative Leader, Nicholas Bourne (2000–2011) lost his regional list seat in Mid and West Wales. He had been the longest serving of the party political leaders in the Welsh Assembly. The Preseli Pembrokeshire Assembly Member Paul Davies then became the Interim Leader whilst an election took place. The contest was between Andrew RT Davies (South Wales Central) and Nick Ramsay (Monmouthshire). Andrew RT Davies won with some 53.1 per cent of the vote on a 49 per cent turnout of the party's Welsh membership.^{[citation needed]} Also in the post-May 2011 Welsh Assembly elections period David Melding (South Wales Central) was elected as the Deputy Presiding Officer for the Welsh Assembly, the first time a Conservative had held this post.

Electoral performance[]

House of Commons[]

Performance of the Welsh Conservatives at the 2019 general election

Election	Wales		+/–
	%	Seats
1922	21.4	6 / 36
1923	21.0	4 / 36	2
1924	28.3	9 / 36	5
1929	21.9	1 / 36	8
1931	22.1	6 / 36	5
1935	23.3	6 / 36
1945	16.5	3 / 36	3
1950	21.0	3 / 36
1951	27.6	5 / 36	2
1955	26.7	5 / 36
1959	29.6	6 / 36	1
1964	27.6	6 / 36
1966	27.0	3 / 36	3
1970	27.7	7 / 36	4
Feb 1974	25.9	8 / 36	1
Oct 1974	23.9	8 / 36
1979	32.2	11 / 36	3
1983	31.0	14 / 38	3
1987	29.5	8 / 38	6
1992	28.6	6 / 38	2
1997	19.6	0 / 40	6
2001	21.0	0 / 40
2005	21.4	3 / 40	3
2010	26.1	8 / 40	5
2015	27.2	11 / 40	3
2017	33.6	8 / 40	3
2019	36.1	14 / 40	6

Senedd[]

Performance of the Welsh Conservatives in the 2016 Assembly election

Election	Constituency			Regional			Total seats	+/–	Government
	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
1999	162,133	15.8	1 / 40	168,206	16.5	8 / 20	9 / 60		Opposition
2003	169,832	19.9	1 / 40	162,725	19.2	10 / 20	11 / 60	2	Opposition
2007	218,730	22.4	5 / 40	209,153	21.4	7 / 20	12 / 60	1	Opposition
2011	237,388	25.0	6 / 40	213,773	22.5	8 / 20	14 / 60	2	Opposition
2016	215,597	21.1	6 / 40	190,846	18.8	5 / 20	11 / 60	3	Opposition
2021	289,802	26.1	8 / 40	278,560	25.1	8 / 20	16 / 60	5	Opposition

Local councils[]

Welsh Conservatives by ward and council control after the 2017 local elections

Election	Votes	%	Councils	+/-	Seats	+/-
1993	84,909	12.5	0 / 8		32 / 502
1995	75,448	8.1	0 / 22		42 / 1,272	10
1999	99,565	10.1	0 / 22		75 / 1,270	33
2004	99,991	11.0	1 / 22	1	107 / 1,263	32
2008	148,708	15.6	2 / 22	2	165 / 1,270	19
2012*	108,365	12.8	0 / 22	2	105 / 1,235	66
2017	182,520	18.8	1 / 22	1	184 / 1,271	79

*The 2012 figures excludes Anglesey which was elected in 2013 although the change in seats and votes shown is a direct comparison between the 2008 and 2012 figures in the 21 councils up for election. The 2017 figures are based on changes from the 2012 & 2013 elections.

European Parliament[]

Election	Wales		+/–
	%	Seats
1979	36.6	1 / 4
1984	25.4	1 / 4
1989	23.5	0 / 4	1
1994	14.6	0 / 5
1999	22.8	1 / 5	1
2004	19.4	1 / 4
2009	21.2	1 / 4
2014	17.4	1 / 4
2019	6.5	0 / 4	1

References[]