Welsh Conservatives

Welsh Conservatives Ceidwadwyr Cymreig
Chairman	Byron Davies
Leader of the Assembly Group	Paul Davies [1]
Founded	1921
Headquarters	Unit 5 Rhymney House Parc Ty Glas Llanishen Cardiff CF14 5DU
Ideology	Conservatism[2] British unionism Economic liberalism[2]
Political position	Centre-right
National affiliation	Conservative Party
European affiliation	Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe
International affiliation	International Democrat Union
European Parliament group	European Conservatives and Reformists
Colours	Blue
National Assembly for Wales	12 / 60
House of Commons (Welsh seats)	8 / 40
European Parliament (Welsh seats)	1 / 4
Local government in Wales	184 / 1,264
Website
https://www.welshconservatives.com
Politics of Wales Political parties Elections

The Welsh Conservative Party (Welsh: Plaid Geidwadol Cymru) is the part of the Conservative Party that operates in Wales. At General Elections, it is the second most popular political party in Wales, having obtained the second largest share of the vote in every one since 1931.^[3] In Welsh Assembly elections, the Conservatives are the third most supported party. They hold one of the four Welsh seats in the European Parliament, eight of the forty Welsh seats in the UK Parliament, and twelve of the sixty seats in the National Assembly for Wales.

The 2015 general election saw the party's best results for thirty years.^[4] At the 2017 General Election, the Welsh Conservatives dropped from eleven seats to eight.^[5]

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.^[6] 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 Welsh Assembly leader, the former Welsh Office Minister Rod Richards, showed a combative style of politics against the Labour Assembly government. Richards subsequently resigned shortly after the Assembly had become established in response to allegations of an assault, from which he was later cleared.^[7] 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 Welsh 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.^[8] 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 Party group 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 group leader whilst an election took place. The contest then consisted of Andrew R.T. Davies (South Wales Central) against 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. 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

Local elections

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

Year	Votes	%	+/-	Overall control of Councils	+/-	Seats	+/-
1993	84,909	12.5%	?	0	?	32	??
1995	75,448	8.1%	4.4%	0		42	10
1999	99,565	10.1%	2.0%	0		75	33
2004	99,991	11.0%	0.9%	1	1	107	32
2008	148,708	15.6%	4.6%	2	2	165	19
2012*	108,365	12.8%	2.8%	0	2	105	66
2017	182,520	18.8%	6.3%	1	1	184	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 Elections

Flags of Wales and The United Kingdom. The Welsh Conservatives are firmly in favour of Unionism in Wales.

Year	Share of votes	Seats
1979	36.6%	1 / 4
1984	25.4%	1 / 4
1989	23.5%	0 / 4
1994	14.6%	0 / 5
1999	22.8%	1 / 5
2004	19.4%	1 / 4
2009	21.2%	1 / 4
2014	17.4%	1 / 4

UK General Elections

Performance of the Welsh Conservatives in the 2015 General Election

Year	Share of votes	Seats
1922	21.4%	6 / 36
1923	21%	4 / 36
1924	28.3%	9 / 36
1929	21.9%	1 / 36
1931	22.1%	6 / 36
1935	23.3%	6 / 36
1945	16.5%	3 / 36
1950	21%	3 / 36
1951	27.6%	5 / 36
1955	26.7%	5 / 36
1959	29.6%	6 / 36
1964	27.6%	6 / 36
1966	27%	3 / 36
1970	27.7%	7 / 36
1974 (Feb)	25.9%	8 / 36
1974 (Oct)	23.9%	8 / 36
1979	32.2%	11 / 36
1983	31%	14 / 38
1987	29.5%	8 / 38
1992	28.6%	6 / 38
1997	19.6%	0 / 40
2001	21%	0 / 40
2005	21.4%	3 / 40
2010	26.1%	8 / 40
2015	27.2%	11 / 40
2017	33.6%	8 / 40

Welsh Assembly Elections

Performance of the Welsh Conservatives in the 2016 Assembly election

Year	Share of votes (constituency)	Share of votes (regional)	Seats (constituency)	Seats (regional)	Seats (total)	Government
1999	15.8%	16.5%	1 / 40	8 / 20	9 / 60	Opposition
2003	19.9%	19.2%	1 / 40	10 / 20	11 / 60	Opposition
2007	22.4%	21.4%	5 / 40	7 / 20	12 / 60	Opposition
2011	25.0%	22.5%	6 / 40	8 / 20	14 / 60	Opposition
2016	21.1%	18.8%	6 / 40	5 / 20	11 / 60	Opposition

References