This is Darren Millar.

He is likely about to become the leader of the Welsh Conservatives.

In addition to being a Member of the Senedd he also has another job.

He runs the evangelical Christian organisation - Pocket Testament League. If he becomes leader Mr Millar is going to have his hands full because not only will he be the official leader of the opposition in the Senedd - he will also be the chief exec of the Pocket Testament.

The new constituency boundaries have been proposed for the next Senedd election in 2026.

They are making 16 seats by pairing the current 32 Westminster seats.

You can see the map of the pairs below (same colour = one seat).

Let's break down the seats...

[Thread] These are just proposals at this point.

The Democracy and Boundary Commission Cymru has published them today along with justifications for them and why they chose the Welsh language name.

One of the conditions for pairing seats was that they must connected by road.

This is the leader of the Welsh Conservatives Andrew RT Davies.

I think there is a very strong argument to be made that he is the worst political leader in the UK.

His leadership is a gift to the Welsh Labour Government.

Let me explain why he is so bad...

[Thread] Before I explain this, we need to deal with a far more basic question - is Andrew RT Davies actually the Welsh Conservative leader?

Right I have gone through the latest 20mph data for Wales and have made this video.

However, I know many of you prefer a thread so I've done that as well.

Long story short, 20mph seems to be working VERY well and is already paying for itself.

[Thread] So the latest casualty data is out for Jan-March this year.

This means we can compare it with the same period in 2023 before the limit came in.

Looking at just 20 and 30mph roads, this is difference...

A crash course on the bombshell that just dropped in Welsh politics

Plaid Cymru has just dropped out of the co op agreement with Welsh Labour.

This is a big threat to Wales' new First Minister Vaughan Gething.

Let me catch you up on how we got here & what it means:

[Thread] There are 60 Members of the Senedd (MSs) in the Welsh Parliament.

Welsh Labour have 30. This means they are just short of a majority.

Oh dear, I think it is time for a fact check.

Are the Welsh Government really teaching "sex education to 3 year-olds?

Let's find out!

[Thread]

https://twitter.com/AndrewRTDavies/status/1790674323507646772

It's worth a look as ARTD has quite a history of making misleading statements having recently made demonstrably untrue claims about both the 20mph limit & child asylum seekers.

The second of these claims led to him being investigated by the standards commissioner in the Senedd.

The attitude of Welsh and UK Labour to the Vaughan Gething donation scandal is astonishing.

They have both refused to answer any questions put to them about where the left over money will be going.

Let me talk you through this ongoing battle I am having.

[Thread] Anything left over from the £200k that Mr Gething accepted from a criminal was due to go to the Labour Party.

(Btw you can see the full breakdown of this scandal in this tweet:)

https://twitter.com/WillHayCardiff/status/1782392689587020178

Remember the companies that gave £200K to Vaughan Gething's campaign to be First Minister?

Well 11 months before they received a £400k loan from the Welsh Gov-run Development Bank of Wales.

This was when Mr Gething was economy minister & the bank was in his portfolio.

[Thread] The loans were given to Neal Soil Suppliers, part of the Dauson Environmental Group empire run by Cardiff businessman David Neal which funded Mr Gething's campaign.

Most recently the Cardiff-based development bank gave Neal Soil Suppliers a £400,000 loan in February 2023 to fund the purchase of a solar farm.

This is Labour politician Alun Michael.

He currently occupies 1 of the most pointless jobs in Britain - a Police and Crime Commissioner.

Banking a tidy £86,700 a year as PCC for South Wales he is, IMO, a perfect example of what a missed opportunity the PCCs are.

[Thread] This man is named Dimitris Legakis.

He is a freelance press photographer based in Swansea.

In October last year he was wrestled to the ground and arrested while trying to do his job.

I have gone through every donation Jeremy Miles and Vaughan Gething accepted during their leadership race.

Barring any late declarations the final tally was:

Miles - £58,800
Gething - £254,600

There are some really interesting things in here so let's have a look.

[Thread] Let's start with Jeremy Miles.

Lancehawk - £9,000

This is a company in the wired telecommunications activities sector.

Interestingly, one of the directors is a man named Robert Lovering...

One of the big challenges Vaughan Gething's going to face in winning over both his colleagues & the public is how he reacts to scrutiny.

He has a long history of reacting angrily when challenged.

Let's take a look & work out what it could mean for his premiership.

[Thread] We saw yesterday how he reacted when asked about the controversial donations. Anyone who even asks that question is not a "serious journalist".

It is bananas that some of the revelations from the Wales leg of the Covid inquiry are not getting wider media attention.

Let me give you just one example - the power wielded by Special Advisers.

[Thread] The inquiry has really highlighted in stark terms just how much power and influence special advisors (known as SpAds) held in the Welsh Government response to Covid.

Mr Gething STILL refuses to answer basic questions on the controversial donation he received to bankroll his First Minister campaign & rejected our request for an interview.

We've kept at this. It's not OK for politicians to ignore fair scrutiny in the hope it'll go away.
Thread I case you missed the background - check out this thread.



Basically he took 2 huge £100k donations from Cardiff-based firm Dauson Environmental Group to help him beat rival Jeremy Miles to be Welsh Labour leader and replace Drakeford as First Minister.

https://twitter.com/WillHayCardiff/status/1762138337865871864

Permit me a frustrated thread please.

I have been trying to get more insights into the £200k donation Vaughan Gething took from a company that also put in a request for a solar farm in Cardiff.

The evasion and entitlement on display is ridiculous.

Let me explain.

[Thread] If you are new to this the details of the initial investigation are below.

You can't possibly read this and not think there are serious questions to answer.

But neither Mr Gething, or the many Welsh Labour politicians who support him will answer them?!

https://twitter.com/WillHayCardiff/status/1762138337865871864

EXCLUSIVE - Big Wales News

A company gave Vaughan Gething a huge donation to his campaign to be First Minister, the same day they also applied to build a large solar farm on a Site of Special Scientific Interest in Cardiff.

A development requiring Welsh Gov approval...
[Thread] Let me take you through this step by step.

Vaughan Gething took the huge donation from Cardiff-based environmental firm Dauson Environmental Group to help him beat rival Jeremy Miles to be Welsh Labour leader and replace Mark Drakeford as First Minister.

There is a lot of strange things about the £200,000 donation Vaughan Gething has been given to help him beat Jeremy Miles to become First Minister.

Not least that the spending limit for each candidate is £44k....

There is however a loophole Mr Gething can exploit.

[THREAD] In case you missed in Vaughan Gething received the £200k donation from a man prosecuted for illegally dumping waste on a conservation site.

Let me put into context just how big this donation is in terms of Welsh politics...

I have been through every single donation received by Welsh MPs over the last year and there has been cash pouring into certain Tory seats ahead of the General Election.

One former Wales rugby captain gave £7.5K in one donation.

Let's go through and have look.

[Thread] Starting with Craig Williams the MP for Montgomeryshire.

If the latest polls are to be believed this is potentially the only seat that the Conservatives will hold on to at the next General Election.

Welsh farmers are currently FURIOUS with the Welsh Government.

They have some legitimate reasons to be p*ssed off but the WG are also in a really tricky position.

This is complex but really super important & hidden within the debate is a wonderful opportunity.

[THREAD] The picture above (credit @GlynPreston) is from Welshpool Livestock Market.

It isn’t bulls, cows or sheep occupying the pens but something far harder to domesticate: Welsh farmers.

So why are they so mad with the Welsh Gov?

"WE CAN'T SORT THE WELSH NHS BECAUSE WESTMINSTER HAVE CUT OUR FUNDING"

This is the go-to Welsh Gov response to criticism of how they manage the health service.

But this ignores the fact they could simply manage it better.

Let me give you a really good example:

[Thread] Let's take ambulance waits.

This graph shows how many hours of paramedic time are lost in Wales while they are waiting to hand over patients to A&E.

In December 2023 over 22k were lost because hospital ERs were too full to discharge.

Up from 5.3k in 2016.

So I have been having a little look at the people who run some of the Welsh anti-20mph Facebook groups.

It seems that many of them a run by Tory politicians.... who live in England....and support 20mph where they live....

Let's go on a journey (at a very safe speed).

[Thread] I had a look at 4 Facebook pages that opposed Wales' new 20mph limit:

- South Wales Against Blanket 20mph limits - 5.3k members

- West Wales Against Blanket 20mph limits - 4.3k

- North Wales Against Blanket 20mph limits - 2.6k

- Mid Wal Against Blanket 20mph limits - 225

The ongoing crisis at S4C is a real mess and deserves much wider attention.

If this was the BBC/Channel 4, people would be losing their minds.

Last week I interviewed the sacked CEO Sian Doyle.

This week I asked to interview Chairman Rhodri Williams. They said no.

[Thread] There are so many outstanding questions.

It can be a bit confusing keeping up with all this so let me take you through them.

1. Why has Rhodri Williams declined our request for an interview?