Global Information1999 Welsh Conservatives leadership election information
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All nine members of the Welsh Conservative Group in the National Assembly for Wales Five votes needed to win | ||||||||||
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The 1999 Welsh Conservatives leadership election took place in August 1999 to elect the leader of the Welsh Conservative Group in the National Assembly for Wales following the resignation of Rod Richards as leader on 10 August, which followed the failure of senior Welsh Conservatives and other group members to endorse his appointment of David TC Davies as acting leader. Nick Bourne, who lost to Richards in the previous leadership election in 1998, was elected by the group to serve as acting leader in Davies' place. He was then elected unopposed as the only candidate nominated by group members for the permanent leadership.
Richards, seen as belonging to the more radical wing of the party, defeated Bourne, seen as belonging to the more moderate wing of the party, for the leadership in 1998, which led to their relationship becoming strained. Under Richards' leadership, the Welsh Conservatives adopted a platform of opposing devolution and focusing on British identity, whereas Bourne wanted the party to take a more moderate approach of cautiously accepting the implementation of devolution. On 5 August 1999, Richards temporarily resigned as leader to defend himself against charges of grievous bodily harm, which he was later cleared of in 2000, and appointed his deputy David TC Davies, who was considered his protégé, to serve as acting leader until he returned, attempting to stop Bourne from succeeding him as leader. This was controversial with the more moderate members of the Welsh Conservative Group, who argued that Davies, aged 29, was "too inexperienced" to lead them. Some members were also angered by Richards' decision to appoint Davies without consulting them first, whilst Bourne's supporters in the group thought now was the time for the party to move in a more moderate direction with Bourne as the new leader.
Senior Welsh Conservatives held a meeting with the Welsh Conservative Group on 10 August, where Richards asked the other attendees to endorse his appointment of Davies as acting leader and deputy leader. Instead, the leadership of the party endorsed Bourne as acting leader, who was then elected by members of the group to take Davies' place as acting leader. Richards then announced his permanent resignation as leader of the Welsh Conservative Group in the National Assembly for Wales, stating that his leadership and authority had been "undermined" by their decision to replace Davies with Bourne, and that as a result he had "no choice" but to step down. After his resignation, Conservative Central Office called a leadership election to determine who would serve as his successor. Conservative Central Office opened nominations for the leadership on 11 August after Bourne put forward his nomination for the leadership, claiming to have secured the support of five of the nine group members. Bourne was considered the favourite and likely the only candidate who would stand for the leadership. Nominations remained open until 18 August. As Bourne was the only candidate nominated on the close of nominations, he was elected unopposed as the new leader of the Welsh Conservative Group. Richards later accused the seven members of the Welsh Conservative Group, excluding himself and Davies, of taking part in a conspiracy to remove him as leader.
The contest and its aftermath led to a lasting enmity between Richards and Bourne which caused a factional split in the Welsh Conservative Group between those who supported Bourne and the more Eurosceptic AMs in the group; this spilled over into the 2001 UK Conservative Party leadership election, with Bourne's faction supporting the more pro-European candidate Kenneth Clarke and the other faction supporting the more Eurosceptic candidate Iain Duncan Smith. Under Bourne's leadership, the Welsh Conservatives changed its strategy and moved toward supporting devolution and moderating its policy platform on other issues such as healthcare and education. Richards criticised this change in strategy as "sucking up to Plaid Cymru". The next Welsh Conservatives leadership election was held in 2011 after Bourne lost his seat in the 2011 assembly election. Andrew RT Davies was elected to succeed him as leader and would go on to continue Bourne's strategy of making the Welsh party more supportive of devolution while also taking on a more populist approach.
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