Welsh Tories meet to discuss Andrew RT Davies leadership

Davies has been leader of the Welsh Conservatives in the Senedd for most of the last 13 years.

He was first elected in 2011. After he quit in 2018, he returned unopposed in 2021 after Paul Davies stood down.

Davies has been under pressure since the summer over concerned raised internally over his social media account on X.

A Muslim group accused Davies of “Islamophobic race-baiting” after he wrote about allegations that non-halal meat was not available at a school in the Vale of Glamorgan.

The school had said that was incorrect.

The Member of the Senedd for South Wales Central also triggered a row over devolution when he told X he had asked people at an agricultural show if they thought the Senedd should be abolished or not.

Davies said he was just asking people’s views, but his predecessor Lord Bourne warned the party against going down a “blind alley”.

There have also been concerns in the party over his handling of the conduct of Tory MS Laura Anne Jones.

Jones apologised after it emerged she had used a racist slur in a WhatsApp chat. She is also subject to a police probe over her expenses – allegations that she denies.

Jones has not been suspended as a Conservative MS, but has been removed from the front bench as a spokeswoman.