Andrew RT Davies is Conservative MS for South Wales Central, and served as Leader of the Conservative Group in the Senedd from 2021 to 2024.
Evolve or die. That’s politics. That’s the story of the Conservative Party. The reason we are the most successful and oldest party in the Western world is that we choose to evolve rather than die.
It was thought our party would not survive in the age of universal suffrage. But to the contrary, we were by far Britain’s most successful political force throughout the 20th century.
In the 1970s, we accepted our economy was in decline, and we changed our party to respond to the challenges of that time.
After the General Election in July, we are at that fork in the road yet again.
Are we going to recognise that the realignment of politics is happening before our eyes, and ride the wave, or are we going to keep playing the game by the old rules?
We do not have the luxury of spending years in the wilderness. There is another party of the right that will replace our party if we do not make ourselves relevant again. The safety net of the two party political system will not save us if we get it wrong this time, and we may not get a second chance to get this right.
So we have to confront the new realities of politics. We do not live in 2010. Brexit. President Trump. The rise of the RN in France. Meloni. The AFD in Germany. The list goes on. Incumbent politicians and parties are being replaced. The old parties of the left have climbed out of the mines and into the diversity and inclusion workshops. In the post-industrial West, it’s time to forget everything you think you know about politics.
People don’t want dogmatic free market liberalism. They want to make sure they have safe and secure communities, and they want to make sure there are good jobs in those communities. So we have to protect our communities by putting an end to the outsourcing of work and the importing of low skilled workers.
I am a true blue business owner. I have not lost faith in the power of capitalism to transform lives and lift people out of politics. But in a globalised world, predatory capitalism, if unchecked, will rip the heart out of our communities and our nations. Traditional political parties, which are about as nimble as cruise ships sometimes, are sitting ducks if they do not realise that.
I don’t believe the Conservative Party should become Reform-lite. I think we need to become the real deal. We need to be the party people turn to for action on their key concerns. To do that we need to be credible, and that begins with rhetoric. We’ve had the right rhetoric in the past, but it has not always translated into action.
In a Welsh context, we can’t tell people that a vote for other parties is a vote for Labour, because Welsh elections will be fought in a fully proportional electoral system going forward. So we have to mark ourselves out, not as a fudge option, or a best of a bad situation, but as a positive choice to vote for.
So, we need to speak frankly. We need to give a voice to the voiceless. We need to tackle tough issues that are relevant to people. People care about their health service, the economy, their children’s education. But they also care about their communities. They care when they are told by the media establishment that they should be ashamed of their history and their heritage.
A Conservative Party ready to win must earn people’s confidence again, and fight for our communities, our traditions, our values, our history and our future, and not be afraid to ruffle the feathers of the political and media class while doing it.
For my part, I tried to position the Welsh Conservatives in this space. Some of my colleagues made it impossible to do this, and it made my position as leader untenable.
But for our party, standing still is not an option.
That’s why I am not giving up the fight.
Our party must respond to the new political reality.
The choice is simple: evolve or die.
Andrew RT Davies is Conservative MS for South Wales Central, and served as Leader of the Conservative Group in the Senedd from 2021 to 2024.
Evolve or die. That’s politics. That’s the story of the Conservative Party. The reason we are the most successful and oldest party in the Western world is that we choose to evolve rather than die.
It was thought our party would not survive in the age of universal suffrage. But to the contrary, we were by far Britain’s most successful political force throughout the 20th century.
In the 1970s, we accepted our economy was in decline, and we changed our party to respond to the challenges of that time.
After the General Election in July, we are at that fork in the road yet again.
Are we going to recognise that the realignment of politics is happening before our eyes, and ride the wave, or are we going to keep playing the game by the old rules?
We do not have the luxury of spending years in the wilderness. There is another party of the right that will replace our party if we do not make ourselves relevant again. The safety net of the two party political system will not save us if we get it wrong this time, and we may not get a second chance to get this right.
So we have to confront the new realities of politics. We do not live in 2010. Brexit. President Trump. The rise of the RN in France. Meloni. The AFD in Germany. The list goes on. Incumbent politicians and parties are being replaced. The old parties of the left have climbed out of the mines and into the diversity and inclusion workshops. In the post-industrial West, it’s time to forget everything you think you know about politics.
People don’t want dogmatic free market liberalism. They want to make sure they have safe and secure communities, and they want to make sure there are good jobs in those communities. So we have to protect our communities by putting an end to the outsourcing of work and the importing of low skilled workers.
I am a true blue business owner. I have not lost faith in the power of capitalism to transform lives and lift people out of politics. But in a globalised world, predatory capitalism, if unchecked, will rip the heart out of our communities and our nations. Traditional political parties, which are about as nimble as cruise ships sometimes, are sitting ducks if they do not realise that.
I don’t believe the Conservative Party should become Reform-lite. I think we need to become the real deal. We need to be the party people turn to for action on their key concerns. To do that we need to be credible, and that begins with rhetoric. We’ve had the right rhetoric in the past, but it has not always translated into action.
In a Welsh context, we can’t tell people that a vote for other parties is a vote for Labour, because Welsh elections will be fought in a fully proportional electoral system going forward. So we have to mark ourselves out, not as a fudge option, or a best of a bad situation, but as a positive choice to vote for.
So, we need to speak frankly. We need to give a voice to the voiceless. We need to tackle tough issues that are relevant to people. People care about their health service, the economy, their children’s education. But they also care about their communities. They care when they are told by the media establishment that they should be ashamed of their history and their heritage.
A Conservative Party ready to win must earn people’s confidence again, and fight for our communities, our traditions, our values, our history and our future, and not be afraid to ruffle the feathers of the political and media class while doing it.
For my part, I tried to position the Welsh Conservatives in this space. Some of my colleagues made it impossible to do this, and it made my position as leader untenable.
But for our party, standing still is not an option.
That’s why I am not giving up the fight.
Our party must respond to the new political reality.
The choice is simple: evolve or die.