Andrew RT Davies MS introduces the Welsh Conservatives’ pledges to the nation.
In less than two years, families across Wales will be heading to polling stations to make an important choice. Do they want more of the same stagnation, soaring NHS waiting lists and hours sat in traffic, a flatlining economy and poor educational outcomes? Or do they want to change the Welsh Government, so we can change Wales together and deliver the hope and opportunity the people of Wales crave?
The General Election was catastrophic for the Conservatives, but Wales cannot wait for the Welsh Conservatives to sit around licking our wounds.
We lead the opposition in the Senedd, and we have a united team ready to change Wales for the better.
Over a quarter of a century of devolution, the Senedd has worked quietly away in Cardiff Bay, going almost unnoticed by many people across Wales. But over the last couple of years, people have begun to notice.
Policies like the barmy 20mph speed limit have thrust the goings-on in Cardiff Bay into people’s everyday life. And in 2026, those people will have their chance to have their say on the Welsh Government that introduced that policy for the first time since its implementation.
These people want an alternative, and that’s what the Welsh Conservatives will be in the next Senedd election.
We will put forward a clear, bold and ambitious alternative, so that people in Wales who have never voted in a Senedd election before can have a positive centre-right alternative to Labour.
So I want to outline our key pledges for Wales. First and foremost, we will deliver the NHS Wales deserves. A properly funded, fully staffed, rigorously defended, free at the point of access National Health Service. That’s what patients and staff deserve. That’s what Wales deserves.
How do we achieve this? We’ll spend more on the health service which has been sadly short-changed by Labour, who have creamed off cash for their vanity projects before making sure the NHS gets what it deserves. In Wales, the home of the NHS and Nye Bevan, this is scandalous. In our first budget, we will increase health spending, and work with health boards to ensure that cash goes further and to the right places.
We’ll also set bold and ambitious statutory targets so that, instead of always passing the buck like Labour do, there will be accountability for our management and stewardship of the NHS.
In the body that is Wales, we need a solid network of veins to pump growth to all of the areas that Labour in Wales have sadly and shamefully left behind.
We also need to recognise that when social care isn’t working properly, it puts even greater pressure on our NHS. So we’ll also set up a cross-party commission to bring forward proposals on the provision of social care in Wales, and we will be bound by its outcomes, finances permitting. Social care is too important to be a political football.
Remember, Labour have been in power for 25 years in Wales, and they have at points cut health budgets and we now have record NHS waiting lists. It’s time for the Welsh Conservatives to prove that we are the party of the NHS.
Our second pledge, to ensure that all areas of Wales can thrive, is to improve our connectivity and build a transport network fit for a modern Wales, because if we do that, we can grow jobs and opportunities in Wales. We’re going to end Labour’s war on motorists by scrapping the 20mph default speed limit.
But we want to go further, and work with local councils to get spades in the ground to get Wales moving with new roads. We need a modern transport network, so we can build a modern economy that can benefit all of Wales.
The best way to lift people out of poverty is by growing our economy and growing our job opportunities. In the body that is Wales, we need a solid network of veins to pump growth to all of the areas that Labour in Wales have sadly and shamefully left behind. Transport and the economy are inextricably linked. With the right transport infrastructure, we can grow our economy, get Wales moving and tackle Labour’s record of economic inactivity in Wales.
As part of our third pledge, the Welsh Conservatives want to bring forward a new deal for families in Wales. This is about making sure children have the best start in life, and then ensuring that there are opportunities for them to live and work in Wales.
For our children, we need to drive up school standards by focusing on literacy and numeracy, and I would also take the bold step of banning smartphones in schools. Then, we need to make sure that when our children are finishing school, they can stay in Wales to live, work and raise a family.
To do that, we need an economy firing on all cylinders, whether that’s in our towns or cities, out on the fields or on the coast. But we also need to give young people the opportunity to own their own home. So with bold, statutory targets, we’ll turbocharge housebuilding where it’s needed, and where the right infrastructure is in place, so the dream of home ownership can be a reality once again.
Innovative. Informed. Independent.
Your support can help us make Wales better.
And then we need to be more ambitious on childcare so families don’t always have to make significant sacrifices in order to provide for their children.
Our fourth pledge is that we will ensure that everyone has security in retirement in Wales. Older people can be sure that their prescriptions and bus passes will be guaranteed under the Welsh Conservatives.
We will also rule out Labour’s proposal to abolish the single person discount on council tax, to avoid a tax on widowers.
But we would go further than that, and launch a government commission to look into how we can ensure through legislation that older people can continue to have access to cash and the internet.
The Welsh Conservatives will also be a voice for all of Wales, delivering hope and opportunity to all four corners of this land.
Being a voice for all of Wales isn’t just about representing the different regions of Wales, but the different economies too.
We’ve already signalled our commitment to all corners of Wales by appointing Shadow Ministers for Mid Wales, for North Wales and for West Wales, and if we form the next Welsh Government, we’ll also appoint a Minister for the Valleys.
However, being a voice for all of Wales isn’t just about representing the different regions of Wales, but the different economies too. Lawmakers in Wales seem to forget that not everybody works in Cardiff, and it shows in the legislation that is often brought forward.
So in the first 100 days of a Welsh Conservative Government, we’d scrap the tourism tax, to give our tourism and hospitality businesses the certainty they need to go on growing their presence, growing their payroll and contributing to thriving local economies across Wales.
And in the first 100 days we would make a clear, unambiguous commitment to farmers: Labour’s 10% tree cover rule for rural subsidies will be scrapped. We know the importance of farming and agricultural communities to our food security, our economy, and our culture. We cannot ever again allow farming communities to fear so much for their livelihoods that they are driven in their thousands to Cardiff Bay.
So we’ll set up an agricultural and rural council, comprised of Ministers, members of the farming unions and others, to monitor how support and regulations are impacting the rural economy, so farmers can feed into it, and we can ensure that support schemes and regulations are fit for purpose and help to grow the sector, not limit it.
Finally, we will make a cast iron guarantee to Wales. No ifs, no buts, no more powers to Cardiff Bay. But beyond that, the Welsh Conservatives believe that more power should be given to the people.
I want to devolve more powers away from the Senedd. For many people I speak to in North Wales, Mid Wales, West Wales, and in the Valleys, a Cardiff-centric government can feel distant. Why shouldn’t north Wales be able to determine their own economic development? Why shouldn’t they have the freedom to work cross-border on creating a more joined up economy?
We can empower local government, which is where so many key services are delivered, and which is so important to people’s day-to-day lives.
While Welsh Government Ministers always want to empower Welsh Government Ministers, the Welsh Conservatives are focused on empowering people in Wales.
The days of the Senedd hoarding powers, always asking for more, would be over. We would build a new system in where powers are distributed based on where they work rather than on what makes Welsh Government Ministers feel important.
We can change Wales together. We can be a government for all of Wales. We can deliver the NHS Wales deserves. We can build a transport network fit for a modern Wales and get Wales moving. We can offer a new deal for families and give older people security in retirement.
If you give the Welsh Conservatives the privilege of forming the next Welsh Government, the vanity projects and distractions will stop on day one. On day one, on day one hundred, and every day, we will be focused on your priorities, and on delivering these six key pledges.
All articles published on the welsh agenda are subject to IWA’s disclaimer. If you want to support our work tackling Wales’ key challenges, consider becoming a member.
