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1998 Welsh Conservatives leadership election
30 October–10 November 1998 1999 →
Turnout6,671 (49%)
 
Candidate Rod Richards Nick Bourne
Popular vote 3,873 2,798
Percentage 58% 42%
Leader before election

Office established

 Elected Leader

Rod Richards

The 1998 Welsh Conservatives leadership election was held from October to November 1998 to elect the first leader of the Welsh Conservative Group in the National Assembly for Wales ahead of its creation and the first assembly election in May 1999. This followed constitutional reforms in the Conservative Party made following the 1997 Welsh devolution referendum which reorganised the party in Wales as the Welsh Conservative Party and gave it limited autonomy from the wider UK party.




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Background

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Before 1997, the Conservative Party in Wales had little independence from the UK party, both in the context of policy-making and identity.[1] In the 1990s, the party under UK leader John Major campaigned against the Labour Party's proposals to devolve powers to new legislatures in Wales and Scotland under UK leader Tony Blair, arguing that this would lead to the breakup of the United Kingdom.[2] Labour defeated the Conservatives in a landslide victory at the 1997 general election on a manifesto which committed the party to holding referendums in Scotland and Wales to determine whether to establish these devolved legislatures.[3][4] The 1997 Welsh devolution referendum would be held in September 1997 to determine whether to establish a devolved assembly for Wales.[5]

The Conservative Party, now led by William Hague, continued to oppose devolution for Wales and Scotland following their election defeat.[6] Following his election as party leader in June 1997, Hague introduced the party office of chief spokesperson for Wales, appointing Jonathan Evans to hold the role.[1][7] In the run-up to the devolution referendum, the Conservatives in Wales endorsed the anti-devolutionist Just Say No campaign[8][9] which was led by its vice-chairman Nick Bourne and three rebellious activists from the Labour Party in Wales.[10][11] Bourne opposed devolution at the time because the proposed assembly for Wales would, in his eyes, cost too much money to establish and would risk marginalising Wales from the rest of the United Kingdom.[12]

In the referendum campaign, the Conservatives and Just Say No led by Evans and Bourne faced a formidable alliance of Plaid Cymru, Labour and the Liberal Democrats, who all campaigned in support of devolution with the cross-party organisation Yes for Wales, save for a small number of rebels in Labour.[13] Although a victory for the Yes campaign was iniitally considered a foregone conclusion, opinion polls for the referendum narrowed going into September, making the result too close to call.[14] The Conservatives had recovered some of its support across Wales since their landslide defeat at the 1997 general election and by the time the referendum was held, it had rebranded itself in Wales as the main party of uncompromising unionism through the Just Say No campaign, enabling it to shore up opposition against devolution.[7][13] Although the final result returned a narrow majority in favour of establishing a devolved assembly, the party under Evans' leadership was attributed to successfully preventing a landslide victory for the devolutionists in the referendum.[5][7]

Following the referendum, Hague instituted constitutional reforms to the Conservative Party to make it more democratic in 1998. Consequently, the Conservative Party in Wales was reorganised as the Welsh Conservative Party and given limited autonomy from the wider UK party.[7][15] These reforms instituted a new management board for the party in Wales.[1] Although these reforms fell short of introducing a formally devolved leadership position for the party in Wales, it did introduce the office of leader of the Welsh Conservative Group in the National Assembly for Wales, which would be the name of the devolved assembly from its establishment in 1999.[15][1] The office of chief spokesperson of the Welsh Conservatives would be assumed into this new office after a leader was installed.[16] The leader in the assembly would also be responsible for leading the Conservatives into the first assembly election which was scheduled for May 1999.[17][18] Because of the democratic reforms made to the Conservative Party, the leader would be chosen by Welsh party members in a leadership election which would be held later in the year.[7]

Candidates

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Jonathan Evans, chief spokesman of the Welsh Conservatives until 1998, was expected to run in the leadership election with little opposition. However, he announced his intention to run for the European Parliament in early 1998, enabling other candidates to stand with greater chances of victory.

At first, it was expected that Jonathan Evans, chief spokesperson of the Welsh Conservatives since 1997, would run for the leadership. Had he done so, it was expected that Evans would have faced little opposition.[13][7] However, he chose not to stand for the National Assembly or for the leadership and instead announced in early 1998 his intention to stand as a Conservative candidate for Wales at the 1999 European Parliament election.[7] According to the Welsh Conservative academic David Melding, Evans would have moved the Welsh Conservatives from a more right-wing position toward the political centre had he become leader.[7]

Evans' decision not to stand enabled former member of Parliament (MP) Rod Richards, who was the first candidate selected by any party to stand at the 1999 assembly election, to launch a bid for the leadership.[7][19] Richards' political career had been setback by a scandal surrounding an extramarital affair which led to his removal from Prime Minister John Major's cabinet in 1996, and in the 1997 general election he lost his seat of Clwyd West, then considered the safest seat in Wales for the Conservatives, to Labour on the backdrop of its landslide victory.[19] Winning the leadership would give him the opportunity to make the political comeback that he desired and also enable him to move the Welsh Conservatives in a new direction ideologically.[19][7] Seen as a more radical Thatcherite, Richards was known for his staunch anti-devolutionist views and

Alongside Richards, the other individual who was identified as a potential contender for the leadership was Nick Bourne.[18] UK party leader William Hague had appointed Bourne as the new chief spokesperson of the Welsh Conservatives after In February 1998 after Evans decided to stand down from the role.

as his successor. As chief spokesperson of the Welsh Conservatives, Bourne was now considered the favourite of William Hague

According to the Welsh Conservative academic David Melding, he would have moved the Welsh Conservatives from a more right-wing position toward the political centre had he become leader.[7]



scheduled for

  1. ^ a b c d Convery, Alan (15 July 2016). The territorial Conservative Party: Devolution and party change in Scotland and Wales. Manchester University Press. pp. 28, 83–85. ISBN 978-1-5261-0054-2.
  2. ^ Gamble, Andrew (28 April 2021). "The Constitutional Revolution in the UK". After Brexit and Other Essays. Policy Press. pp. 222–223. ISBN 978-1-5292-1709-4. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  3. ^ "General election". BBC News: Politics '97. 2 May 1997. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  4. ^ Suksi, Markku (27 November 2023). Autonomy: Applications and Implications. BRILL. p. 248. ISBN 978-90-04-63742-9. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  5. ^ a b "Welsh devolution at 25: Reflecting on 25 years since the first Senedd election". ITV News. 6 May 2024. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  6. ^ Hough, Dan; Jeffery, Charlie (28 May 2006). Devolution and Electoral Politics. Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-0-7190-7330-4. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Melding, David (2007). Will Britain Survive Beyond 2020? (PDF). Institute of Welsh Affiars. pp. 174–178. ISBN 978-1-904773-43-6. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  8. ^ "Tories say 'no' to devolution". Flint and Holywell Chronicle. 25 July 1997. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  9. ^ Percival, Jenny (21 July 1997). "Government to spell out plans for nation's future". South Wales Echo. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  10. ^ Baldwin, Tom (20 July 1997). "Labour £2m for vote on devolved powers". The Sunday Telegraph. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  11. ^ Barberis, Peter; McHugh, John; Tyldesley, Mike (2000). Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organizations: Parties, Groups and Movements of the 20th Century. A&C Black. p. 438. ISBN 978-0-8264-5814-8. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  12. ^ Percival, Jenny (21 July 1997). "Assembly No campaign launched". South Wales Echo. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  13. ^ a b c Chapman, T. Robin (2006). The Idiom of Dissent. Gomer. pp. 124–125. ISBN 978-1-84323-590-3. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  14. ^ "Touch and go says survey". South Wales Evening Post. 11 September 1997. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  15. ^ a b Torrance, David (31 October 2012). Whatever Happened to Tory Scotland?. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-0-7486-7044-4.
  16. ^ Buchanan, Susan (11 November 1998). "Tory Rod's victory attacked by rivals". South Wales Evening Post. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  17. ^ Staff Reporter (13 November 1998). "Tories back ex-MP for Assembly post". The Vale Advertiser. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  18. ^ a b "Tory battle over Welsh job". BBC News. 14 October 1998. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  19. ^ a b c Speed, Nick (12 November 1998). "Leading Tory hopes for a comeback". South Wales Echo. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
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