Latest news with #WelshConservatives
ITV News
11 hours ago
- Politics
- ITV News
Kemi Badenoch labels Labour policy a 'disaster' for farming in Wales
Kemi Badenoch has said Labour policies have been a disaster for farming in Wales. The Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, has said that Labour governments in Cardiff and London have been 'a disaster for farming' here in Wales. Speaking at the Royal Welsh Show in Builth Wells, she said a Conservative UK Government would 'reverse' Labour UK Government plans to change inheritance tax, which she called 'the immoral family farm tax'. She told ITV Cymru Wales: 'We are promising to back farmers. Farming is a way of life. Standing up for farmers is standing up for Britain. And one of the things that Labour did when it first came into office was bring in the immoral family farm tax. It is going to destroy farming across our country. And I have said that once Conservatives get back into government we will reverse it.' As well as still reeling from a massive defeat in last year's UK General Election, which saw not a single Conservative MP elected for Wales, the party is also looking at losses ahead of next year's Senedd election. The most recent Barn Cymru poll for ITV Wales and Cardiff University suggested the Conservatives could end up in fourth place with as few as nine Senedd Members. In her interview, Kemi Badenoch acknowledged that her party faces an uphill struggle. 'Well, we know that we suffered a historic defeat last year," she said. "It's not going to be easy to get back on track, but that's the work that I'm doing. It's one of the reasons why I'm here, getting all across the country, trying to rebuild trust with the public, acknowledging where we made mistakes and showing that Wales has not thrived under Labour. It certainly won't under Plaid. It most definitely will not under Reform.' She was asked, too, if she has confidence in Darren Millar's leadership of the Welsh Conservatives in Wales. She said. 'Absolutely. Darren is here with me. We get on famously. We speak all the time. He is absolutely the right person to be First Minister.' And she was asked, too, about the status of his leadership. When Andrew RT Davies was first in charge of the Welsh Tories, the then Prime Minister, David Cameron, said publicly that Mr Davies was considered the leader of the wider party in Wales. Since then, other leaders have held varying views. I asked her: 'Who is the leader of the Welsh Conservatives? Not just the group in the Senedd: who leads the Welsh Conservatives?' KB: 'I do.' 'And where does Darren Millar sit in that?' KB: 'Darren is the leader of the Welsh Conservatives in the Senedd but this is not what the public are asking about. They want to know who's going to deliver for the people of Wales and that is the Conservatives.' 'The only reason I ask is because different Conservative leaders have given different answers.' KB: 'Well you've asked me the question. We are a united party. We are the Unionist party. We're not interested in carving ourselves up and having lots of little, you know, different groups and factions. We are the Conservative and Unionist Party. We believe in the United Kingdom. We want Wales to be very much a part of the United Kingdom, not what Plaid Cymru is offering. Labour will end up sectioning Wales off the way they're going.' And she backed the decision to insist that Conservative candidates in next year's Senedd election should not be opposed to devolution, saying: 'That is the settlement that we have now. Devolution is a process. What we need to make sure is we have the best people. It's the people that matter.' Asked if she was sceptical about devolution, she said: 'Well, yes, because people think devolution is a solution in and of itself. It's not. It's how you use it. And that's why you have to look at the people. If you put bad people in, then it doesn't matter whether you're devolved or not, if you have great people then yes, devolution would work.' The Conservative leader said: 'That's that, honestly, in terms of the top 100 things that this country needs, that's not one of them.'
The Guardian
15 hours ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
The Tories are on the brink of annihilation in Wales – and it holds a lesson for Westminster politicians
By any measure, Kemi Badenoch's leadership of the Conservative party is not in a good place. In the last few months alone, she has been told 'her days are numbered', that she is in 'Liz Truss territory' and that she is 'hitting a new record low'. This is not a hostile audience. These criticisms come from the Telegraph, the Spectator and the Daily Express, outlets that have traditionally turned a blind eye to the most egregious Conservative leadership failings, like a blinkered parent who refuses to accept the repeated reports from teachers that their child is a bully. It's clear that what Badenoch is doing is not working. She needs to change course, not just for her own sake, but for the continued existence of her party as a political entity. In case this isn't obvious to her already (just 10% of people in the UK see her as a PM in waiting), there is a really handy example of what will happen to the Conservative party if it keeps being a Reform tribute act – the Welsh Conservative party. If you haven't paid any attention to the Welsh Conservative party, don't blame yourself, because hardly anyone in Wales has either. I have had the privilege of reporting on the Welsh Tories for a decade and they are the embodiment of all the challenges and failings of the current UK party. And when I say 'privilege', I mean it. Journalistically, it has been like shooting fish in a barrel, such is the level of incompetence exhibited by the Welsh Conservatives. But a gain for the humble hack is a loss for the people of Wales. Since devolution, Wales has been desperate for a sensible centre-right alternative that could genuinely challenge Welsh Labour, whose record is more patchy than Boris Johnson's account of Partygate. Instead, the people of Cymru have been condemned to a Welsh Conservative party that has preferred to dabble in Nigel Farage cosplay rather than genuine opposition. A party that could soon be all but wiped out in Wales. So what lessons can Badenoch learn from the situation her colleagues find themselves in across Offa's Dyke? Well, the first concerns demographics. The Welsh Conservative party is literally dying out. According to a study by Cardiff University's Wales Governance Centre, in 2024 fewer than 10% of people aged under 65 in Wales voted for the Conservatives. In fact, 10% of the party's 2019 voters had passed away by the time of the 2024 election (the figure for Labour was 3%). If this trend continues, 40% of Tory voters in Cymru will have died by the next election. But surely these voters are being replaced? Well, no. If you want to see how hard the Welsh Conservatives are finding it to recruit younger people, then look no further than a fringe meeting that was held at their party conference in May. I remember looking through the programme and seeing that an event by the Welsh Young Conservatives was discussing how to attract more young people. They defined 'young' as under 45. That same conference underlined another problem: that the Conservatives scream incompetence right now. For one thing, Badenoch herself began her speech by saying how 'wonderful' it was 'to meet so many MSPs'. In Wales we have MSs (Senedd members); not MSPs (members of the Scottish parliament). The auto captions all over the hall also wrote 'whales' rather than 'Wales' throughout all of the speeches. And the lack of compassion and hope from the current Conservative party was hilariously encapsulated in the subtitles to the speech of Darren Millar, the Welsh Tory leader in the Senedd, which translated 'We are pro-roads, not just cycle paths' into 'We are pro-roads, not just psychopaths'. It also doesn't help that the Conservatives can't agree about who their Welsh leader is. In the constitution of the Conservative party, Badenoch is technically the leader of the Welsh Conservatives. However, Mims Davies (an MP in Sussex) is the leader of the Welsh Conservatives in Westminster, and Millar is the leader of the Welsh Conservatives in the Senedd. But if we accept that, for all intents and purposes, Millar is the leader in Wales (given he is the only one actually in Wales), we can see how his failure of leadership (and the failures of his predecessors) offer Badenoch a stark warning. The lesson here is that trying to mirror Reform is a losing play. Millar has continued the strategy put in place by his predecessor, Andrew RT Davies, and tried to be more Farage than Farage himself in rhetoric. Davies was investigated by the Welsh parliament's standards commissioner after he told GB News: 'Welsh Labour are dishing out £1,600 to anyone who wants to rock up and claim they are crossing the Channel illegally.' To be clear, the figure he was referring to was the Welsh government's basic income pilot, which will give £1,600 a month to care leavers and included about a dozen migrant children who came to the UK alone with no family. The Welsh Tories also show what happens when you fail to put forward any credible plans for actually governing the country. Regarding the biggest challenge facing Wales, which is the NHS, the Welsh Conservatives issued a statement saying they would 'properly fund the health service'. When asked where the money would come from, they listed a string of 'Labour vanity projects' which they would cut. Unfortunately, some of these ended in 2003. In the Senedd right now, the Welsh Conservatives are the official opposition. They constitute 15 of the 60 members (25%). Polling suggests that in the Welsh election next year they will receive between 10% and 13% of the vote. The electoral system in Wales means that any party that dips under 12% could be totally wiped out. An MRP poll in May suggested that they could have as few as three seats (and this is after the Senedd will have expanded to 96 members). These projections could be Badenoch's Welsh canary in the coalmine. I suspect she will simply say the canary wasn't determined enough, and keep on tunnelling. Will Hayward is a Guardian columnist. He publishes a regular newsletter on Welsh politics and is the author of Independent Nation: Should Wales Leave the UK?
The Guardian
21 hours ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
The Tories are on the brink of annihilation in Wales – and it holds a lesson for Westminster politicians
By any measure, Kemi Badenoch's leadership of the Conservative party is not in a good place. In the last few months alone, she has been told 'her days are numbered', that she is in 'Liz Truss territory' and that she is 'hitting a new record low'. This is not a hostile audience. These criticisms come from the Telegraph, the Spectator and the Daily Express, outlets that have traditionally turned a blind eye to the most egregious Conservative leadership failings, like a blinkered parent who refuses to accept the repeated reports from teachers that their child is a bully. It's clear that what Badenoch is doing is not working. She needs to change course, not just for her own sake, but for the continued existence of her party as a political entity. In case this isn't obvious to her already (just 10% of people in the UK see her as a PM in waiting), there is a really handy example of what will happen to the Conservative party if it keeps being a Reform tribute act – the Welsh Conservative party. If you haven't paid any attention to the Welsh Conservative party, don't blame yourself, because hardly anyone in Wales has either. I have had the privilege of reporting on the Welsh Tories for a decade and they are the embodiment of all the challenges and failings of the current UK party. And when I say 'privilege', I mean it. Journalistically, it has been like shooting fish in a barrel, such is the level of incompetence exhibited by the Welsh Conservatives. But a gain for the humble hack is a loss for the people of Wales. Since devolution, Wales has been desperate for a sensible centre-right alternative that could genuinely challenge Welsh Labour, whose record is more patchy than Boris Johnson's account of Partygate. Instead, the people of Cymru have been condemned to a Welsh Conservative party that has preferred to dabble in Nigel Farage cosplay rather than genuine opposition. A party that could soon be all but wiped out in Wales. So what lessons can Badenoch learn from the situation her colleagues find themselves in across Offa's Dyke? Well, the first concerns demographics. The Welsh Conservative party is literally dying out. According to a study by Cardiff University's Wales Governance Centre, in 2024 fewer than 10% of people aged under 65 in Wales voted for the Conservatives. In fact, 10% of the party's 2019 voters had passed away by the time of the 2024 election (the figure for Labour was 3%). If this trend continues, 40% of Tory voters in Cymru will have died by the next election. But surely these voters are being replaced? Well, no. If you want to see how hard the Welsh Conservatives are finding it to recruit younger people, then look no further than a fringe meeting that was held at their party conference in May. I remember looking through the programme and seeing that an event by the Welsh Young Conservatives was discussing how to attract more young people. They defined 'young' as under 45. That same conference underlined another problem: that the Conservatives scream incompetence right now. For one thing, Badenoch herself began her speech by saying how 'wonderful' it was 'to meet so many MSPs'. In Wales we have MSs (Senedd members); not MSPs (members of the Scottish parliament). The auto captions all over the hall also wrote 'whales' rather than 'Wales' throughout all of the speeches. And the lack of compassion and hope from the current Conservative party was hilariously encapsulated in the subtitles to the speech of Darren Millar, the Welsh Tory leader in the Senedd, which translated 'We are pro-roads, not just cycle paths' into 'We are pro-roads, not just psychopaths'. It also doesn't help that the Conservatives can't agree about who their Welsh leader is. In the constitution of the Conservative party, Badenoch is technically the leader of the Welsh Conservatives. However, Mims Davies (an MP in Sussex) is the leader of the Welsh Conservatives in Westminster, and Millar is the leader of the Welsh Conservatives in the Senedd. But if we accept that, for all intents and purposes, Millar is the leader in Wales (given he is the only one actually in Wales), we can see how his failure of leadership (and the failures of his predecessors) offer Badenoch a stark warning. The lesson here is that trying to mirror Reform is a losing play. Millar has continued the strategy put in place by his predecessor, Andrew RT Davies, and tried to be more Farage than Farage himself in rhetoric. Davies was investigated by the Welsh parliament's standards commissioner after he told GB News: 'Welsh Labour are dishing out £1,600 to anyone who wants to rock up and claim they are crossing the Channel illegally.' To be clear, the figure he was referring to was the Welsh government's basic income pilot, which will give £1,600 a month to care leavers and included about a dozen migrant children who came to the UK alone with no family. The Welsh Tories also show what happens when you fail to put forward any credible plans for actually governing the country. Regarding the biggest challenge facing Wales, which is the NHS, the Welsh Conservatives issued a statement saying they would 'properly fund the health service'. When asked where the money would come from, they listed a string of 'Labour vanity projects' which they would cut. Unfortunately, some of these ended in 2003. In the Senedd right now, the Welsh Conservatives are the official opposition. They constitute 15 of the 60 members (25%). Polling suggests that in the Welsh election next year they will receive between 10% and 13% of the vote. The electoral system in Wales means that any party that dips under 12% could be totally wiped out. An MRP poll in May suggested that they could have as few as three seats (and this is after the Senedd will have expanded to 96 members). These projections could be Badenoch's Welsh canary in the coalmine. I suspect she will simply say the canary wasn't determined enough, and keep on tunnelling. Will Hayward is a Guardian columnist. He publishes a regular newsletter on Welsh politics and is the author of Independent Nation: Should Wales Leave the UK?
Powys County Times
11-07-2025
- Politics
- Powys County Times
Ex-MP Craig Williams gambling trial date set for 2028
Former Montgomeryshire MP Craig Williams faces a wait of more than two years for trial on gambling charges. Williams, 40, who was Tory MP for Montgomeryshire until last year, is charged with cheating at gambling and three counts of enabling or assisting others to cheat, in relation to the 2024 General Election. At Southwark Crown Court on Friday, Williams, from Llanfair Caereinion, appeared wearing a smart black suit and tie. As in magistrates court last month, he did not indicate a plea. The court will also hear an application to dismiss the charges on January 19 next year. Because of the large number of defendants, two trials have been scheduled to take place, with the first fixed for September 6 2027, and the second for January 3 2028. Williams will be in the 2028 trial. Other defendants included Montgomeryshire MS Russell George, 50, and Thomas James, 38, the suspended director of the Welsh Conservatives, both of whom have previously indicated not guilty pleas. The charges come after 'Operation Scott' was launched to investigate gambling by politicians and employees of the Conservative Party in the lead-up to the 2024 general election. Williams was first the MP for Cardiff North between 2015 and 2017 before he lost his seat to Labour MP Anna McMorrin. He was then elected MP for Montgomeryshire at the 2019 general election, and lost his seat to Steve Witherden in the newly-reshaped Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr constituency in July last year. Before the July 4 election was called, planning took place at Downing Street and Conservative campaign headquarters, the court heard. The 15 defendants are alleged to have placed bets based on confidential information gained from those rooms, or enabled others to place bets by passing that information on. If convicted they could face up to two years in prison for these offences. Twelve of the defendants indicated not guilty pleas at a previous hearing. They are: Simon Chatfield, 51, from Farnham, Surrey; Russell George, 50; Amy Hind, 34, of Loughton, Essex; Anthony Hind, 36, of Loughton, Essex; Thomas James, 38; Charlotte Lang, 36; Anthony Lee, 47; Laura Saunders, 37; Iain Makepeace, 47, from Newcastle Upon Tyne; Nick Mason, 51; Paul Place, 53, from Hammersmith, west London; James Ward, 40, of Leeds. Former MP Williams, with Jacob Willmer, 39, from Richmond, west London, and former police officer Jeremy Hunt, 55, of Horne in Surrey, are yet to indicate a plea.
ITV News
11-07-2025
- Politics
- ITV News
Former MP and aide to Rishi Sunak in court over gambling on general election date
A former MP and aide to Rishi Sunak when he was Prime Minister has appeared in court charged with gambling offences involving the 2024 election. Williams, 40, who was Conservative MP for Montgomeryshire and Cardiff North, is charged with cheating at gambling and three counts of enabling or assisting others to cheat. He is one of 15 defendants who face similar charges. On Friday (11 July), Williams appeared at Southwark Crown Court accused of cheating by gambling on the date of the 2024 general election. He did not indicate a plea. The court will hear an application to dismiss the charges on January 19 next year. He and his 14 co-defendants face a wait of more than two years for trial. Because of the large number of defendants, two trials will take place, with the first fixed for September 6 2027, and the second for January 3 2028. Williams case will be in the 2028 trial. Other defendants included former Conservative Member of the Senedd Russell George, 50, and Thomas James, 38, the suspended director of the Welsh Conservatives, both of whom have previously indicated not guilty pleas. The charges come after 'Operation Scott' was launched to investigate gambling by politicians and employees of the Conservative Party in the lead-up to the 2024 general election. Mr Sunak, who has provided a witness statement in this case, had noted that elections would take place in the second half of the year but had not given a date. Williams was first the MP for Cardiff North between 2015 and 2017 before he lost his seat to Labour MP Anna McMorrin. He was parliamentary private secretary to Mr Sunak during his time as prime minister. He was then elected MP for Montgomeryshire at the 2019 general election, and lost his seat in July last year. Before the July 4 election was called, planning took place at Downing Street and Conservative campaign headquarters, the court heard. The 15 defendants are alleged to have placed bets based on confidential information gained from those rooms, or enabled others to place bets by passing that information on. If convicted they could face up to two years in prison for these offences. Twelve of the defendants indicated not guilty pleas at a previous hearing. Simon Chatfield, 51, from Farnham, Surrey; Russell George, 50; Amy Hind, 34, of Loughton, Essex; Anthony Hind, 36, of Loughton, Essex; Thomas James, 38; Charlotte Lang, 36; Anthony Lee, 47; Laura Saunders, 37; Iain Makepeace, 47, from Newcastle Upon Tyne; Nick Mason, 51; Paul Place, 53, from Hammersmith, west London; and James Ward, 40, of Leeds, all indicated they would deny the charges. Former MP Williams, with Jacob Willmer, 39, from Richmond, west London, and former police officer Jeremy Hunt, 55, of Horne in Surrey, are yet to indicate a plea.
