Darren Millar elected Welsh Conservative leader unopposed
Getty ImagesSenate Conservatives had just over 48 hours to nominate candidates for a new leadership race after Davis resigned at lunchtime on Tuesday.
By Thursday morning, 15 of Miller’s colleagues had endorsed him, and Sam Rowlands, considered a potential candidate, announced his support earlier Thursday.
Unlike in Scotland, Miller leads only the party’s MPs rather than all Welsh Conservatives, despite long-standing calls for that to change.
He will become leader of the opposition and meet Eluned Morgan every week during First Minister’s Question Time in the Senate.
Miller said he was “humbled” by the support of his colleagues: “Andrew R.T. Davis will be a difficult man to follow, but I am determined to build on his legacy as we head into the Senate on the eve of Take on our political opponents in the 2026 election.
“After 25 years of Labour’s defeat, Wales desperately needs hope and change; I look forward to setting out our plans to deliver this in the coming weeks and months.”
Who is Darren Miller?
Miller, 48, is the chief whip of the Welsh Conservative Party and is responsible for party discipline.
He grew up in Taun, Conwy, is married with two grown children and now lives in Kimmel Bay.
He is arguably the most senior Welsh Conservative still in office who is not the outgoing leader and is known for his considerable contribution in the Senate, particularly in his role as health spokesman for NHS Wales hour.
His website said Miller worked as a manager at an international charity supporting persecuted Christians before joining Cardiff Bay politics.
In a setback for MPs at the end of 2020, he and three other senators temporarily stood down from the front bench after they were caught drinking in the Welsh Assembly building during the pandemic pub ban.
Miller returned as chief whip after the May 2021 Senate election, and four politicians were cleared of violations. Senators’ Code of Conduct.
As the Welsh Conservatives prepare for the 2026 Senate election, and having lost all their MPs in a disastrous general election, Miller will be faced with the question of where the party goes next.
A recent poll put the Conservatives in fourth place, behind Plaid Cymru, Labor and the Reform Party.
Davis stepped down amid concerns among the Senate and other members of the Conservative Party about the direction of the party.
Davis’ supporters believe he should move in a reform-style direction. His critics would like to see him offer a wider range of options.
From the story of Davis’s controversial claims about halal meat at a school to his asking people on social media if they thought the Senate should be abolished – the party has officially supported devolution for years.
Some Conservative MPs last week reportedly called for Davis to resign. He responded by calling for a vote of confidence, which he only narrowly won.
Guto Harry, Boris Johnson’s former Downing Street communications director, said the challenge for the Conservatives was not “to replace one leader with another” but to “make the party an alternative government to Cardiff Labour” “.
“Let’s get back to what the Conservative Party is. The Conservative Party is not a wacky crowd-pleaser or a farmers’ lobby, although they are part of it.
“This is back to advocating for a small country to spend less of your money.”
He said Miller needed to develop “a lot of talent”, including former Conservative MPs. “I’m not going to waste Stephen Crabbe, and I’m not going to waste David T.C. Davis,” he said.
Commenting on the election, a Conservative source said they believed it showed a “lack of ambition on the part of the Senedd group for Wales”.
“If Darren Miller is the answer, what’s the question?”
A Welsh Labor spokesman said: “Voters have rejected Darren Miller and his colleagues at the general election. Instead of trying to understand why, they are papering over the cracks.”
Oliver Lewis, spokesman for Reform England in Wales, said: “The simple fact is that Darren Miller has been an MP since 2007 but, like other Welsh Conservatives, he has been nothing but ineffective in opposition. There is nothing outside.”
Plaid leader Rhun ap Iorwerth congratulated Miller but said he “takes the job at a time of confusion and infighting within the party and the Conservatives’ failure to prepare for the challenges facing Wales” Provide any reliable solution”.
A spokesman for the Welsh Lib Dems added: “In July, Welsh voters delivered a devastating verdict on the Conservatives, ousting every Tory MP in Wales. Rearranging the deck chairs on the Senate panel will not convince anyone Forget their record of incompetence, filth and failure. “
