Darren Millar MS is the new Leader of the Welsh Conservative Senedd group
After my appointment as leader of the Welsh Conservative Senedd Group, receiving unanimous support from my fifteen Senedd colleagues, many of you might be asking: who am I, and what do I stand for? Let me be clear – I want to be First Minister of Wales, and I’m here to bring fresh energy, bold ideas, and unwavering ambition to the Welsh Conservatives as we embark on the mission to become the largest party in the Senedd, and displace the failing Labour Government which has held us back for 25 years.
I have had the privilege and honour to represent Clwyd West in the Senedd since 2007, winning the seat from Labour. Since then, I’ve served in key roles within the shadow cabinet, including holding the health, education, local government and economy portfolios, and, in recent years, I’ve been Andrew RT Davies’ chief whip and shadow minister for the constitution and north Wales.
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I’m a Conservative to my core. My guiding principles are freedom, individual choice, and personal responsibility, and I firmly believe in the strength of the United Kingdom and the importance of Wales’ place within it.
My faith is important to me I am also not ashamed to call myself a Christian. Over the years the media has asked many questions about my beliefs and their compatibility with public office. I say this to them: “I go to church—get over it!”
I’m proud to be Welsh, proud to be British, I love my family, and love my food! But above all, my commitment lies with my constituents and with the people of Wales, who deserve far better from devolution than what Labour has delivered.
After 25 years of Labour rule, Wales is broken. Under my leadership, the Welsh Conservatives will develop a comprehensive and common-sense plan to fix it. Nowhere is it more obvious that Wales is broken than in the performance of our NHS.
NHS waiting lists in Wales have increased for eight months in a row, with 1 in 4 people in Wales left languishing waiting for appointments and treatment. It is a national travesty that Wales has nearly 24,000 people waiting over two years for treatment, compared with just 113 in England, which has a population 18 times the size.
This is despite the then health minister, now First Minister, Eluned Morgan, promising to end waits of two years or more by March 2023—and then again, when this target was missed, by March 2024.
Enough is enough. This has got to change. If I have the honour and privilege of leading the next Welsh Government, we will take a patient-centred approach that gives greater choice to those in need of treatment here in Wales, building on the Welsh Conservatives’ plan to eliminate Labour’s restrictive NHS guidance that locks patients in their local area until “all treatment options are exhausted”, without proper consideration of how long people have been waiting or the pain they are enduring.
Our education system is also broken and Wales’ children are being let down. We have not only seen Wales fall down the international rankings, but we also recently heard the concerning news that a fifth of those leaving primary school are doing so functionally illiterate.
If that isn’t a sad indictment of a broken education system, I don’t know what is.
By going their own way, focusing on outdated teaching methods and cutting school budgets, Labour education ministers have failed a generation. The Welsh Conservatives will fight for their future.
Wales has also been held back by Labour’s appalling stewardship of the economy. We have the highest unemployment rate, higher small business rates, and some of the lowest wages in the UK. I am ambitious for Wales, and under my leadership, we will back business, and embrace innovation in science, energy, and emerging technologies like AI to create high-paying jobs and opportunities for all.
We need to reform punitive tax rates, cut business rates for our town centres, and reject Labour’s tourism tax which will damage our visitor economy. A Conservative Wales will create a pro-growth economy that fosters entrepreneurship and creates prosperity and opportunity for all.
Our crumbling infrastructure is also slowing us down. Labour’s block on building new roads and inappropriate 20mph speed limits are resulting in thousands of people sitting needlessly in traffic jams every day. The failure to deliver vital projects has left communities disconnected and opportunities missed. A Welsh Conservative Government will restore ambition to our transport policy, build roads and other key infrastructure, and ensure that investment reaches all corners of Wales. In short, we will get Wales moving.
We will also address the regional inequality across Wales. It is morally wrong that Labour has short-changed local authorities in north, mid and west Wales for decades while ploughing cash into their heartlands in the south, with some councils amassing millions while others are on the brink of financial ruin.
Wales needs a government that will fix public finances by tackling waste and inefficiency. A Welsh Conservative administration will treat taxpayers’ money with the respect it deserves. We will focus our attention on fixing our public services instead of throwing money away on unnecessary and profligate spending, such as mini embassies overseas.
My aim is clear, I want to lead the Welsh Conservatives into Government in 2026 so that we can fix Wales and make it a land of opportunity for all.
Join us on this exciting journey!