Russell George rules himself out of Tory leadership challenge
A politician has ruled himself out of the running for the Welsh Conservative leadership contest.
Following the resignation of Andrew Davies as the Tory leader Paul Davies was put in place as interim leader.
However Montgomeryshire’s Tory AM, Russell George, who is a shadow minister in the government, has ruled himself out of the running.
Mr George, who has served since 2011 when he took over from Lib Dem Mick Bates, took to social media to pledge his support for Mr Davies in the leadership contest.
He said: “Busy day at the office. My Assembly group leader Andrew RT Davies stood down this morning. Andrew has been the Welsh Conservative assembly group leader since 2011 just after I was elected.
“I want to pay tribute to his service as my leader and leader of the opposition. He’s made a massive contribution to Welsh politics and is a good friend to Montgomeryshire.”
Mr Davies stood down last week following months of tension behind the scenes in the Welsh Conservatives.
He had been criticised by a Tory MP for comments he made days previously about Brexit.
In an interview this week, he revealed he learned about a plot to remove him as leader more than a year ago from a text that was sent to him by mistake.
He also claimed that Conservatives at Westminster were behind the attempt to remove him last year.
