Brecon and Radnorshire Senedd Member James Evans ousted from the Conservative Party

Brecon and Radnorshire Senedd Member James Evans MS has been ousted from the Conservative Party for not towing the Party line

James Evans MS has had the whip removed and been ousted today from the Conservative and Unionist Party. 

This means that with immediate effect, James Evans MS will sit as an Independent Member of the Senedd, whilst he considers his political future outside of the Conservative Party.

James Evans MS said: “I have been concerned for some time over the direction of the Conservative Party at a UK level and I feel it no longer represents my conservative values and beliefs.  

“Politics should be a broad church of views and opinions, and it is a sad day when the Party does not allow free speech or criticism. 

“I respect my Welsh Conservative colleagues, particularly Darren Millar MS as Leader and Paul Davies MS, but I feel the UK Conservative Party no longer represents my views and values.  

“My focus remains 100% on representing the people of Brecon & Radnorshire to the very best of my ability. I will take some time in the coming weeks to consider my political future.”

The Leader of the Welsh Conservatives has issued the following statement.

Welsh Conservative Leader Darren Millar MS said: "This morning, I took the decision to remove James Evans from the Welsh Conservative Shadow Cabinet and withdraw the Conservative whip.



"I did so after being informed by James that he was continuing to engage with Reform representatives about the possibility of defecting to the party, in spite of his personal assurances on Friday that he had rejected an approach they initiated last week.



 "Understandably, I expect all Welsh Conservative MSs and candidates to be 100% committed to our party and our plan to fix Wales. Regrettably, James was unable to give me that commitment."

On SundayJames Evans criticised UK party leader, Kemi Badenoch, and said the party "needs to change" on television.

James Evans refused to engage with questions of whether he was going to follow his "very strongly principled friend" Robert Jenrick and defect to Reform UK.

Jenrick told the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg that a meeting of the shadow cabinet where they failed to agree with him that Britain was broken had been the last straw for him. 

Evans said: "We have to take some level of responsibility for the mess this country is in.

He went on to say: "Kemi should reflect on that comment because I don't think that's the comment that is being made by the majority of people who support the Conservative Party across the country."

Questioned on whether he would defect to Reform, the Brecon and Radnorshire MS said he didn't want to get involved in a political "melodrama".

"My views are clear. I have conservative principles. Yes, some of them do align with Reform, some of them don't. This is the joys of political parties."

Asked whether he had had conversations with Reform UK about joining the party, he said: "I'm not getting into what conversations I've had."

Also on the panel was Reform UK's Jason O'Connell, who complimented Evans on being a "very skilled politician" in the Senedd.

"We would certainly welcome his experience. His values align with ours and maybe there's a conversation to be had in the future," he said.