It is a tremendous honour and a privilege to be addressing you here today as the very first Welsh Conservative Assembly Member for Aberconwy.
As you can imagine, I was absolutely delighted with the result the Welsh Conservatives saw at the May election. This was the third succession for the Welsh Conservative Party and came after polling the highest ever votes for the European election, which saw Kay Swinburne MEP top the poll. We have also seen an increase in the number of Welsh MPs.
I am also very proud to have been appointed Shadow Minister for Local Government after the many years I have served as community councillor, county councillor, group leader and leader of the opposition. I feel I have the necessary experience and knowledge to shadow the Minister for Local Government on all Local Government matters.
It is fair to say that the Welsh Conservative group – now for the very first time as the official opposition – has much to do, especially in relation to scrutinising the Welsh Labour Government and their policies.
The yes vote in the referendum saw law-making powers devolved to the National Assembly. Following this, it is imperative that we as the opposition seek to challenge, scrutinise and hold the Welsh Labour Government to account at all times and for every single person living in wales.
There is no doubt about the failure of the last twelve years of Labour-led administration and its direct negative impact which is now affecting so many people. Wales is now the poorest part of the United Kingdom. In education, Wales is at the bottom of UK league tables for reading, maths and science. Labour has overseen waste and inefficiency in the NHS. The Welsh Labour Government is cutting the NHS budget by £1 billion over the next three years. We need to invest in the NHS to address the huge rise of 30% in orthopaedic waiting times and the second-class treatment opportunities available to cancer patients in Wales compared to England. Currently, there are 27 cancer drugs available to patients in England which are not available to us in Wales. The economic is a shambles – Labour has left us paying £120 million a day in interest on their debt. We now live in a Wales that does not inspire our young, protect our families or support the more vulnerable and elderly in our society.
Wales cannot afford five more years of Labour-led catastrophe especially at a time when there are such stormy waters ahead for the United Kingdom as a whole.
The Conservative Party is experiencing great success in the United Kingdom, having won more seats in the Parliamentary elections than the last 14 years.
Within the UK Government, we are going from strength to strength and there is no doubt that a Conservative-led government certainly means business. Again, after 13 years of a Labour government that has seen our country – our United Kingdom – decline and brought to the edge of economic crisis and indeed, a completely shattered and broken society. I am not alone in truly believing that our Prime Minister and party leader, David Cameron, along with George Osbourne our Chancellor and a strong cabinet are really dealing with the situation we have been left with. I am proud to be here today with our own Secretary of State for Wales, the Rt Hon Cheryl Gillan MP and I would like to take this opportunity to thank Cheryl for the support she has given me over the years.
The Conservatives have strengthened the relationship of the UK with our European counterparts without deepening our integration with the EU or sacrificing our sovereignty, and that is something we will never do. We remain committed to securing the stability of our economy and managing the European crisis.
We remain an independent and proud nation and draw our strength from the unity of the UK. It is my opinion that the devolved Wales should always complement this unity as opposed to fragment our union.
I am immensely proud that the Conservative Party is gaining support and strength at every level of governance in the United Kingdom and no more so that here in Wales. However, although we have seen much success now is not the time to become complacent.
The local government elections facing us in May are probably the most important elections that we as a party will face for some time to come. It is essential that not only do we return our sitting councillors, but that we seek to place good candidates in every possible electoral district the length and breadth of Wales. To deny our supporters the opportunity to vote conservative is not an option. There are many councillors, group leaders and candidates here today and I would like to tell you that you have my 100% support and I will help you in whatever way I can. And I speak in a personal capacity and on behalf of the Assembly Group. Under the leadership of Andrew Davies, the Conservative Group in the Assembly will work together with you so that we can bring transparency, efficiency and effectiveness back into town halls and councils across Wales.
The Minister for Local Government and Communities is doing his best to break down the effectiveness of local government and to centralise local government powers into his own hands. However, the Conservatives continue to recognise the importance of local government and the benefits gained by allowing local administrations the freedom and flexibility to represent and serve their Authorities as they see best.
The advantage of multi-level governance is that it allows closer links between elected representatives and their electorate. We must put on a strong front to the Minister’s bizarre policy of forced collaboration for Local Authorities and emphasise the experience and knowledge that our Local Authorities and Councillors in Wales have.
The new CCHQ in Cardiff Gate is a sign of this Welsh Party growing with confidence. The support and communications that we as AMs, Councillors and all elected members of our party received from Cardiff Central Office is second to none, and I take this opportunity to thank Matt Lane and his team for this. The work of everyone at Conservative Central Office in Cardiff is exceptionally dedicated, as is the work of all our members. You are all so truly committed and work so hard for the Party and this is where we really draw our strength. This is strength that we have over other parties in Wales who suffer from infighting, fractions and divisions.
I want our campaign going into these Local Government elections to be strong, co-ordinated and based on communication: communication within the party to ensure unity, but especially communication with the electorate. We must convince them that the recent successes we’ve experienced in the Conservatives are not one-offs. We will continue to work for the people of Wales and the UK.