'Reform has taken side of the establishment by backing an expanded Senedd. Parties must put national interest first'
On this occasion, Reform has taken the side of the establishment, says Andrew RT Davies
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Politicians have a nasty habit. Let’s be frank, the public has a sceptical view of politicians at best.
But politicians tend to view their own herd as a force for eternal good. If something is successful, politicians want to regulate it.
If something’s gone wrong, politicians are certain they’re the ones to solve it.
It’s partly this mentality that has led Labour and Plaid Cymru to believe that the Welsh Parliament, or Senedd, in Cardiff Bay should have 36 more elected members. Currently, the number is 60, so the increase would be 60 per cent.
The Welsh Conservatives are vehemently opposed to these plans, and we have called for Labour and Plaid to put them to the people of Wales in a referendum.
Unsurprisingly, they have refused to call a referendum, because they know the people of Wales will tell them where to shove their 36 more members.
But Labour and Plaid have another party among their ranks who want to expand the Senedd.
Reform UK is talking a lot about how they’re going to establish new constituency branches in an effort to expand their party infrastructure.
That’s a reasonable thing for a party to do. But what was very surprising, and indeed alarming, was that the Reform national chairman has described Senedd expansion as ‘an opportunity’ for his party.
It’s true that an expanded Senedd gives Reform more opportunities to get politicians elected and build up their party infrastructure, but that comes at a grave expense.
It will cost taxpayers £120million. It will also feed an ever-hungry beast that is nationalism, which wants to break up our United Kingdom.
While it may be good for Reform, expanding the Senedd is bad for Wales and bad for Britain, and party interest should never trump the national interest.
Let me be clear: Lots of very good people voted for Reform at the last election because the UK Government let them down. But on this occasion, Reform has taken the side of the establishment.
I understand that Reform wants to expand their ranks and their reach, but this is absolutely the wrong way to do it.
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We all know the Conservatives have just suffered a brutal election loss.
If you were only concerned about the fortunes of your own party, it would be easy enough for a Conservative to be in favour of more Senedd Members so we can expand our ranks and get our people back into legislatures.
But even at this low point in the Conservative Party’s history, I am unwilling to put my party’s interests ahead of the national interest.
That nasty habit of thinking that more politicians and more politics is always the answer has not infected the Welsh Conservatives. We know that Wales needs more doctors, nurses and teachers, not more politicians.