Frontbench Team of Rod Richards explained

Cabinet Name:Frontbench Team of Rod Richards
Jurisdiction:the National Assembly for Wales
Cabinet Type:Frontbench Team
Flag:Flag of Wales 2.svg
Flag Border:true
Incumbent:May–August 1999
Date Formed:13 May 1999
Date Dissolved:10 August 1999
Government Head:Rod Richards
Government Head Title:Leader
Deputy Government Head:David TC Davies
Legislature Term:1st National Assembly for Wales
Previous:Assembly established
Successor:Frontbench 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

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.[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. 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.[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.[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. 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.[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.

Members

PortfolioSpokespersonConstituencyTerm
Leader of the Welsh Conservative GroupRod Richards AMNorth WalesMay 1999–August 1999
Deputy Leader of the Welsh Conservative Group
Welsh Conservative Group Business Manager
Welsh Conservative Group Chief Whip
David TC Davies AMMay 1999–August 1999
Welsh Conservative Group Deputy Business ManagerWilliam Graham AMSouth Wales EastMay 1999–August 1999
Spokesperson for FinanceNick Bourne AMMid and West WalesMay 1999–August 1999
Spokesperson for Economic Development and EuropeAlun Cairns AMSouth Wales WestMay 1999–August 1999
Spokesperson for Health and Social ServicesDavid Melding AMSouth Wales CentralMay 1999–August 1999
Spokesperson for EducationJonathan Morgan AMSouth Wales CentralMay 1999–August 1999
Spokesperson for Agriculture and the Rural EconomyGlyn Davies AMMid and West WalesMay 1999–August 1999
Spokesperson for Environment, Transport and PlanningPeter Rodgers AMNorth WalesMay 1999–August 1999

Notes and References

References

Notes and References

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