It's been a "well hidden" contest, but the results are finally in. Andrew RT Davies is the new leader of the Welsh Conservatives, beating Nick Ramsey by 53.1% to 46.7% on a 49% turnout.
There have been suggestions that this result would please Carwyn Jones more than anyone else. It's unlikely that Plaid Cymru would ever go into a rainbow coalition in the future with a party led by - as Andrew Davies describes himself - a "proud unionist". I think they miss the point that the only way, I at least, could see Plaid doing that is if they were leading it - if they would ever seriously contemplate doing it at all.
Andrew Davies will make an excellent leader of the opposition in the Siambr. He's one of the "characters", he doesn't shy away from things, and although he might be prone to "going off on one" - and even coming across as a little bit haughty - he has a straight-talking common touch. Sadly, from a nationalist perspective, he trumps anything Plaid could currently put up from their current set of AMs.
That's where things begin to break down though. He might turn out to be a good face for the party, but when it comes to policy he's firmly to the right. There is a danger that he could undo all the good work his predecessor Nick Bourne did in detoxifying the Conservative brand in Wales. In his leadership manifesto he says he's "best placed to reach out beyond traditional Conservative territory".
I'm not sure. He's probably the most traditional Welsh Tory of the bunch. Some private education, landed businessman, rural Glamorgan. Welsh Tory members might just have retreated to a comfort zone when they should be reaching out even more.
Nick Ramsey is more of the mould of Nick Bourne, and would no doubt have been a steady, if dull, pair of hands. However, in a Labour dominated Assembly it's time to go on the attack and Welsh Conservatives have elected the leader, IMHO, best placed to do that.
If Andrew Davies makes the mistake of merely becoming a mouthpiece for the Conservatives in Westminster - especially on the back of enacting a few unpopular policies in Wales - he could very well find himself under attack more often than being on the attack.
I congratulate Andrew and wish him well.
