Paul Davies MS

Following Andrew RT Davies's controversial poll at the Vale of Glamorgan County Show asking attendees whether the Senedd should be abolished, several senior Welsh Conservatives broke ranks to publicly criticise him. Paul Davies, as a former leader, carried particular weight.

Davies was among the prominent Conservatives who publicly questioned why a policy that was not formal party policy was being promoted by the group leader, undermining the party's internal cohesion at a time when it could least afford division. As leader from 2018 to 2021, Davies had maintained the party's official pro-devolution position, accepting the Senedd's existence while opposing further expansion of its powers. His willingness to publicly challenge his successor reflected the depth of the internal Conservative divide over devolution — a divide that ultimately contributed to Andrew RT Davies's resignation in December 2024. Paul Davies represents the 'constitutional conservative' wing of the party: supportive of the union, accepting of devolution as an established fact, but resistant to what he sees as the reckless populism of flirting with abolition sentiment for short-term electoral gain.