Welsh Conservative leadership: new calls for party overhaul

With Welsh Conservatives about to choose a new leader, two former candidates have made separate calls for radical changes to the way the party is run here in Wales.

It follows controversy over the status of the elected leader who'll officially only head the group of Assembly Members.

Both candidates in the contest say they think the position should have wider responsibility for the party in Wales and have promised to lead a debate to change the rules.

And the party's chair in Wales has said that the way the party is run and financed here is currently being reviewed.

Luke Evetts, who's been a parliamentary and assembly candidate in the past and is now chair of the Ceredigion Association, says there should be a similar review to that which brought in big changes to the Scottish party.

He's written to the Welsh Conservative Board, which runs the party in Wales, urging a review:

The Sanderson review in 2010 led to an overhaul of the Scottish Conservatives which included beefing up the role of leader.

The changes have been widely credited with ushering in the party's revival in fortunes in Scotland since then whereas confusion about who's in charge in Wales is blamed as one of the reasons for recent frustrations for the Tories in Wales.

Another former candidate who's since left the Conservatives has also called for reform.

Writing on thewebsite of the Institute of Welsh Affairs to suggest wider changes for the party as a whole, Nick Webb says divisions and infighting amongst Tories have resulted in letting Labour off the hook.

But he says the problems are not necessarily about hostility to devolution.

Both candidates in the Welsh leadership contest have backed calls for reform. Speaking during a special edition of Sharp End in which they debated head-to-head, Paul Davies and Suzy Davies agreed the party's structure needed change.

I've spoken to the Chairman of the Welsh Conservatives, Byron Davies. He told me that under his chairmanship the party is going through a thorough review, including it's finances and the way that it's managed. He's urging patience, saying, 'we're making good headway. People have to be patient and tolerant.'

On the issue of changing the status of leader, he says 'my mind isn't closed to that' but says it's a question of whether or not the party in Wales can stand on its own two feet. At the moment it's linked constitutionally and financially to the party in England.

But he insisted that 'we most certainly do have our own identity in Wales which has been very successful and we're building on that.'