Frontbench Team of Rod Richards

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Frontbench Team of Rod Richards

Frontbench Team of the National Assembly for Wales
May–August 1999
Date formed13 May 1999
Date dissolved10 August 1999
People and organisations
LeaderRod Richards
Deputy LeaderDavid TC Davies
Member party
  •   Welsh Conservatives
Status in legislatureOpposition party
9 / 60 (15%)
History
Legislature term(s)1st National Assembly for Wales
PredecessorAssembly established
SuccessorFrontbench Team of Nick Bourne

Rod Richards, the leader of the Welsh Conservative Group in the National Assembly for Wales, formed his frontbench team of party spokespeople on 13 May 1998. Richards had led his party into the 1999 National Assembly for Wales election after being elected as leader of the Welsh Conservative Group in 1998.

History[edit]

In 1997, Tony Blair's UK Labour Party secured a landslide victory in the 1997 general election and entered government on a manifesto of holding a devolution referendum in Wales to determine whether to establish a devolved assembly for Wales.[1][2] The Conservative Party under John Major and William Hague opposed devolution and campaigned for a No vote in the 1997 Welsh devolution referendum held in September 1997, which returned a narrow majority in favour of establishing such an assembly.[3] Following the referendum, the Conservative Party in Wales was reorganised as the Welsh Conservative Party and given limited autonomy from the wider UK party.[4] A leadership election was held in 1998 to elect the leader of the Welsh Conservative Group in the National Assembly for Wales ahead of the first assembly election in 1999.[5][6]

Former MP Rod Richards, known for his combative style of politics and anti-devolutionist views,[7][8] was elected leader of the Welsh Conservative Group by the Welsh party membership and became the first person to serve in this position after the assembly's creation in 1999.[6][9]

The Welsh Conservatives went into the first assembly election in May 1999 on a platform of unionism and devo-scepticism.[10][11] The party expected to become the official opposition in the assembly, winning the second-most seats behind the Labour Party in Wales led by Alun Michael.[4] Richards launched his party's election campaign at a press conference in April 1999, where he announced the members of his planned shadow cabinet in advance of the election result.[4][12] Most appointees to the planned shadow cabinet were Conservative candidates in South Wales.[13] Controversially, Richards did not appoint Bourne to the planned shadow cabinet, nor did he appoint any women.[12][14] This was seen as evidence of the continued strain in the two men's relationship since the leadership election.[15]

At the first assembly election on 6 May 1999, the Welsh Conservatives won enough seats to become the third-largest party behind Plaid Cymru, which became the official opposition to Alun Michael's Labour administration. The party performed below its own expectations. It only won nine seats in the assembly, with several appointees to Richards' planned shadow cabinet failing to successfully win an assembly seat.[4] Under the political system of the assembly, only the official opposition, in this case Plaid Cymru, could form the Shadow Cabinet of Wales.[16] Other opposition parties in the assembly, including the Conservatives, could appoint frontbench teams of party spokespeople. Like members of the shadow cabinet, frontbenchers were given portfolios which generally matched the duties of devolved government ministers in the assembly administration.[16][17]

Richards formed his frontbench team of party spokespeople on 13 May 1998, on the same day as Mike German's Welsh Liberal Democrats.[18] All nine assembly members (AMs) from the Welsh Conservative Group were given frontbench roles, including Richards' leadership rival Nick Bourne, who became the party's spokesperson for finance. David TC Davies, Richards' campaign manager, was appointed deputy leader of the Welsh Conservative Group and as the group's business manager and chief whip. Other appointments included William Graham as deputy business manager, Alun Cairns as spokesperson for economic development and Europe, David Melding as spokesperson for health and social services, Jonathan Morgan as spokesperson for education, Glyn Davies as spokesperson for agriculture and Peter Rodgers as spokesperson for environment, transport and planning.[18]

Members[edit]

Portfolio Spokesperson Constituency Term
Leader of the Welsh Conservative Group Rod Richards AM[a] North Wales May 1999–August 1999
Deputy Leader of the Welsh Conservative Group
Welsh Conservative Group Business Manager
Welsh Conservative Group Chief Whip 		David TC Davies AM Monmouth May 1999–August 1999
Welsh Conservative Group Deputy Business Manager William Graham AM South Wales East May 1999–August 1999
Spokesperson for Finance Nick Bourne AM Mid and West Wales May 1999–August 1999
Spokesperson for Economic Development and Europe Alun Cairns AM South Wales West May 1999–August 1999
Spokesperson for Health and Social Services David Melding AM South Wales Central May 1999–August 1999
Spokesperson for Education Jonathan Morgan AM South Wales Central May 1999–August 1999
Spokesperson for Agriculture and the Rural Economy Glyn Davies AM Mid and West Wales May 1999–August 1999
Spokesperson for Environment, Transport and Planning Peter Rodgers AM North Wales May 1999–August 1999

Notes and References[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Richards appointed David TC Davies as acting leader in August 1999 but this appointment was later overruled at a meeting of the Welsh Conservative Group and other senior Welsh Conservatives, with Nick Bourne made acting leader instead; this led Richards to announce his permanent resignation as Welsh party leader.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Welsh devolution at 25: Reflecting on 25 years since the first Senedd election". ITV News. 6 May 2024. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  2. ^ "Twenty quotes to mark twenty years since Wales said yes". Senedd Cymru / Welsh Parliament. 19 September 2017. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  3. ^ Mumford, Alan (2001). Stabbed in the Front: Post-war General Elections Through Political Cartoons. Centre for the Study of Cartoons and Caricature, University of Kent at Canterbury. p. 141. ISBN 978-1-902671-20-8. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d Melding, David (2007). Will Britain Survive Beyond 2020? (PDF). Institute of Welsh Affiars. pp. 177–178. ISBN 978-1-904773-43-6. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  5. ^ "Tory battle over Welsh job". BBC News. 14 October 1998. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  6. ^ a b "Welsh Tories choose ex-minister". BBC News. 10 November 1998. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  7. ^ Hough, Dan; Jeffery, Charlie (28 May 2006). Devolution and Electoral Politics. Manchester University Press. p. 233. ISBN 978-0-7190-7330-4.
  8. ^ "Bourne leader at the second attempt". BBC News. 4 April 2003. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  9. ^ Shipton, Martin (14 July 2019). "Conservative politician Rod Richards dies after long battle with cancer". Wales Online. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  10. ^ Blaxland, Sam. "Welsh Conservatives: Far From a Contradiction in Terms…". Planet Extra. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  11. ^ Torrance, David (31 October 2012). Whatever Happened to Tory Scotland?. Edinburgh University Press. p. 128. ISBN 978-0-7486-7044-4. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  12. ^ a b "Tories snub Bourne". South Wales Evening Post. 9 April 1999. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  13. ^ "Shadow Cabinet named". South Wales Echo. 8 April 1999. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  14. ^ Speed, Nick (6 May 1999). "Campaign failed to excite voters". South Wales Echo. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  15. ^ "Fighting on front bench". South Wales Evening Post. 9 April 1999. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  16. ^ a b Williams, Rhys (27 May 2021). "Shadow Cabinet roles for regional Senedd Members". Caerphilly Observer. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  17. ^ Deacon, Russell (20 December 2017). Government and Politics of Wales. Edinburgh University Press. p. 108. ISBN 978-0-7486-9974-2.
  18. ^ a b "How the opposition cabinets line up". South Wales Echo. 13 May 1999. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
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