Tory MS fails to toe party line on Andrew RT Davies censure vote

Emily Price

Concerns have been raised about the integrity of the Tory Senedd group after an MS failed to follow the party's instructions on how to vote.

In the Senedd on Wednesday (February 5), Tory MSs were directed to endorse an official reprimand for former Tory leader Andrew RT Davies.

The South Wales Central MS was found to have broken Senedd rules when he failed to declare an interest whilst raising the issue of inheritance tax for farmers in the Chamber.

The Standards Committee recommended no further action and an official censure was read out in the Senedd yesterday afternoon.

Normally when a standards report is tabled it is acknowledged without a vote taking place.

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'Mocking'

But a vote was triggered when Lee Waters objected to nodding through the motion because Mr Davies and the rest of his party hadn't turned up to see the reprimand delivered.

The Labour MS accused the group of "mocking" the Welsh Parliament's standards process.

It was the second time in four months that the Tory leader had opted not to face down a rap on the knuckles for breaking Senedd rules.

Mr Waters' intervention meant that Conservative Members were forced to acknowledge Mr Davies’ behaviour "on the record".

A full Senedd vote took place later in the evening. Tory sources told Nation.Cymru that Conservative MSs had been whipped to acknowledge Mr Davies' censure.

Whips are a political party's enforcers. They work to ensure that their fellow politicians attend voting sessions and vote according to their leader’s agenda.

Failure to vote with the leader's wishes usually means some sort of punishment.

This can range from a stiff talking to, or in more severe cases, having the whip withdrawn - which means the politician is kicked out of the party.

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Abstention

Although all members of the group - including Andrew RT Davies himself - voted to nod the motion through, the Senedd's record revealed that Shadow Minister for Social Partnership, Joel James, abstained.

Mr James has been a close ally of Mr Davies when he was the group's leader.

The pair would often attend "politics and a pint" events together and Mr James supported Mr Davies publicly when he was criticised for asking visitors to a Welsh show whether the Senedd should be abolished.

Mr Davies was forced to resign from his leadership role in December after concerns were raised about his behaviour.

No reply

We asked Mr James why he had decided to go against the party whip - but he did not respond.

We asked Tory Chief Whip Paul Davies if Mr James would be disciplined - but we did not receive a reply.

It was later suggested to Nation.Cymru that Mr James will face no sanction because the whip merely offers guidance for Tory MSs.

But one Conservative insider said that allowing Tory Members to vote how they please "completely undermines the point of having a whip in the first place".

Another Tory source pointed out that Boris Johnson expelled 21 MPs from the parliamentary Conservative Party in 2019 after they rebelled in a bid to prevent a no-deal Brexit.

The source said: "Not having a formal whipping procedure will hinder efforts in future to keep the group united on difficult issues.

"Without having an enforceable whip, Darren risks all votes in the Senedd becoming open season for rebellions amongst MSs."

American

Darren Millar has not been present in the Senedd's Chamber this week and missed a key vote on the Welsh Government's spending plans.

Mr Millar had instead flown to the United States with Tory colleague Russell George to attend a prayer breakfast alongside President Donald Trump.

A spokesperson for the Tory Senedd group defended Mr Millar's absence saying his presence at the event would "help rebuild relationships between the US and Wales more broadly."

Several other Conservative sources said they thought the Tory leader had shown "poor judgement".