Tory leader Andrew RT Davies doubts Wales would still vote for devolution

In an article for today's Sunday Times, Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies has questioned whether the voters who backed devolution in the 1997 referendum would do so again.

The Conservatives opposed devolution in 1997 but afterwards said they would accept the decision of the Welsh people. In 2011, under Mr Davies' predecessor Nick Bourne, the party backed a yes vote in the referendum that gave the Assembly more powers. Mr Davies argues that the problem is not devolution itself but the Labour party. He claims that recently agreed changes in how the Welsh Government is funded have removed any suggestion that Wales gets an unfair deal from Westminster.

The suggestion that Andrew RT Davies would be happy to work with other parties to form a non-Labour government resurrects the idea of the so-called "Rainbow Coalition" that nearly happened in 2007. That proposal benefited from the good personal relationship between the then Conservative and Plaid Cymru leaders, Nick Bourne and Ieuan Wyn Jones.

Relations have cooled considerably since then, with little sign of co-operation between Andrew RT Davies and Leanne Wood.