Glyn Davies

Glyn Davies's career spans the entire devolution era: he was one of the original Assembly Members elected in 1999, served until 2007, then moved to Westminster as MP for Montgomeryshire from 2010 to 2019. This dual experience gives him a unique perspective on the relationship between devolved and UK-level governance.

Davies occupies a distinctive position in the anti-devolution landscape: he is firmly pro-union but equally firmly opposed to reopening the abolition debate, which he considers settled and counterproductive. His 'constitutional democrat' stance holds that the 1997 referendum and subsequent referendums on expanding the Assembly's powers represent democratic decisions that must be respected, regardless of whether one agrees with them. This position puts him at odds with both the abolitionist wing of the Conservative grassroots and with Reform UK's strategic ambiguity. Davies has argued that Conservatives should focus on making devolution work rather than relitigating its existence, and that the party's flirtation with abolitionism is both democratically illegitimate and electorally suicidal. His intervention during the 2024 internal Conservative debates — alongside Paul Davies and Nick Bourne — helped establish that senior figures within the party would not tolerate Andrew RT Davies's populist approach to the devolution question.