Andrew ‘Real Ting’ Davies- An appreciation

Ben Wildsmith

Refuting suggestions that he might, in the wake of his resignation, abandon the Conservatives to join Reform UK, Andrew RT Davies insisted that he was ‘born blue’.

That’s not a natal outcome that’s generally welcomed by obstetricians but might explain some of Mr Davies’ more exotic political decisions over the last few years.

Staking out the hitherto neglected political real estate between Francisco Franco and the late Cornish comedian Jethro, Davies’ contribution to Welsh politics is indescribable, but let’s have a go.

Even taking into account the reputational collapse of the UK Conservative Party, Davies’ stewardship of its Welsh outpost has been sensationally unpleasant.

Welsh Labour is an easy entity to oppose. Smug, entitled, under-achieving, immovable, and established like an incurable cough, it is always there, infusing national life as predictably as the rain.

You can slag Labour off to complete strangers who voted for them and be bought a pint.

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Meddling instincts

So, whilst enthusiasm for the Tories has always been a minority pastime in much of the country, it would be simple to carve out an effective perch from which to criticise the meddling instincts of our government, whilst advancing a reasoned conservative case.

The government’s recent record, featuring Vaughan Gething’s shenanigans and the clumsy implementation of 20mph limits has presented Davies with a series of open goals.

Each opportunity has been squandered in blustering, amateur politicking that would shame a local council.

Let’s start with 20mph. It’s a great exemplar of the dilemmas inherent to 21st century politics. The data, in this case on road fatalities, is clear: the policy saves lives. It’s also personally impactful if you are trying to get to work and fearful of speeding points robbing you of your licence.

The case was made poorly by Labour, with many voters forming the impression that their concerns were ignored in favour of an ideological priority.

What it isn’t is the end of civilization as we know it.

All Davies had to do on this issue was to appear reasonable; point out that some of the roads selected for the new limit were unsuitable and raise concerns about good drivers losing their licences.

Instead, he opted to pursue his misleading claim that the 20mph limit was a ‘blanket’ implementation.

This was tweeted out on his behalf hundreds, if not thousands, of times with respondents’ challenges left unaddressed.

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Asylum seekers

In a similar fashion, Davies claimed relentlessly that the government in Wales was giving £1600 per month to asylum seekers.

The truth, as I’m sure you know, is that the government ran a pilot scheme whereby youngsters leaving care were assigned this amount to assess its effectiveness against existing benefit arrangements.

A tiny minority of those leaving care had arrived in Wales as asylum seekers. The gleeful insolence with which Davies’ Twitter account dismissed the facts in this matter is at the heart of his politics, and his failure.

As Davies gurned and tap-danced for his online audience, it became increasingly clear that he had his back to us here in Wales. The act wasn’t for us.

A list member of the Senedd, Davies’ political fortunes have never been determined by the voters.

Rather, he has been kept afloat by a willingness to do his party’s bidding.

Rather than addressing the issues at hand in Wales, he has been engaged in distorting them to serve a wider narrative for his party’s efforts in England.

He has traduced his own country to seek favour in another, grinning away on GB News with Lee Anderson as a role model.

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Bribery

Anderson, of course, has abandoned the Tories for Reform UK. There have been calls for an investigation into whether this decision was subject to bribery.

Following the spirit of Mr Davies’ rhetoric about payments to asylum seekers, I can truthfully assert that nobody has felt moved to offer him a penny in financial inducement.

The Conservative Party is in ruins across the UK. Whatever moral authority it might have exerted over Reform UK’s excesses has been squandered in endless scandal, tomfoolery, and spite.

The dishonest, jowly immaturity of privileged nonentities has been a blight on us all for as long as we can remember.

Now, at last, it seems to have dawned on even them.