Gaffe-prone Davies steps down as Welsh Tory leader

Andrew RT Davies, the gaffe-prone leader of the Welsh Conservatives, has stepped down. He said he was leaving his position “with regret” and conceded that as a “substantial minority” of his party did not support him, his position was “untenable”.

- KATE DEVLIN

In his resignation letter, he hit out at his critics, praising Tory members who helped the party “not out of financial motivation or in the interests of personal gain, but because they believe passionately in conservative values and in the United Kingdom as our nation state. This stands in direct contrast to some Conservative Senedd members.”

He added that in recent months “it has become increasingly difficult” to take the political approach he wanted “due to resistance from some members within the Senedd Group”. He wrote: “In many cases, it was impossible to offer clarity of message, with statements contradicted publicly by certain members. This made it unclear to the public exactly what the Conservative Party in Wales stands for.