Welsh Conservative Party
|
Welsh Conservatives
Ceidwadwyr Cymreig |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Leader in the House of Commons | Alun Cairns MP |
| Leader in the Welsh Assembly | Andrew RT Davies AM |
| Founded | 1921 |
| Headquarters | Rhymney House Cardiff Gate Business Park Cardiff, Wales CF23 8RB |
| Ideology |
Conservatism Economic liberalism British unionism Euroscepticism |
| Political position | Centre-right |
| National affiliation | Conservative Party |
| European affiliation | Movement for European Reform |
| International affiliation | International Democrat Union |
| European Parliament group | European Conservatives and Reformists |
| Colours | Blue |
| House of Commons (Welsh seats) |
11 / 40
|
| Welsh Assembly |
12 / 60
|
| European Parliament (Welsh seats) |
1 / 4
|
| Local government in Wales |
105 / 1,264
|
| Website | |
| www |
|
The Welsh Conservatives (Welsh: Ceidwadwyr Cymreig), also known as the Welsh Conservative Party (Plaid Geidwadol Cymru), are the part of the Conservative and Unionist Party that operates in Wales. In United Kingdom general elections it is the second most popular political party in Wales, having obtained the second largest share of the vote in Wales in a majority of UK general elections since its formation in 1921 (and in every such election since 1931). In Welsh Assembly elections the Welsh Conservatives were the third most supported party, having been overtaken by Plaid Cymru in the 2016 election; although following a defection from Plaid Cymru to Labour, and a defection from UKIP to the Conservatives, they are now the second largest party in the Assembly.
The Welsh Conservatives have one of four Welsh seats in the European Parliament, eleven of forty Welsh seats in the UK Parliament and twelve of sixty seats in the National Assembly for Wales.
At the 2015 general election, the party saw its best election for thirty years. Amongst the constituencies gained was Gower, a seat held by Labour for over a century.
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. 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.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 1999-2007 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. As a result of the agreement, the Conservatives, the largest opposition party, became the Official Opposition in the Welsh Assembly.
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Wikipedia