Leader of the Opposition (Wales)

In the Senedd, the Leader of the Opposition (Arweinydd yr Wrthblaid)  is the leader of the Official Opposition (Yr Wrthblaid Swyddogol), the largest political party that is not in the Welsh Government. The Leader of the Opposition leads and appoints members of the Shadow Cabinet and as such is sometimes styled as the Shadow First Minister of Wales (Shadow First Secretary before 2000).

Since 7 May 2021 the Leader of the Opposition in the Senedd is Andrew RT Davies (Conservative). To date the office has been held by six individuals, three from Plaid Cymru and three from the Welsh Conservatives. Only one, Ieuan Wyn Jones, has gone on to serve in the Welsh Government.

Role
Like in the Westminster system of the UK Parliament, the Welsh Senedd has an official opposition which, by convention, serves to scrutinise the government of the day and acts as an alternative government-in-waiting. The Official Opposition is formed from the largest political party in the Senedd which does not serve in the Welsh Government. This is generally the second largest party in the Senedd,  however smaller parties may also fulfill the role when there is a coalition between the largest parties. The Leader of the Opposition leads the Official Opposition and appoints its members to the Welsh Shadow Cabinet, whose portfolios mirror those of ministers or cabinet secretaries in the Welsh Government. Members of the Shadow Cabinet lead the Official Opposition in challenging government ministers and holding them to account.

As with some other practices in the Senedd, the roles of Official Opposition and Leader of the Opposition have no legal basis, instead they have developed as conventions in the Senedd. Both concepts were introduced on an informal basis with the establishment of the Senedd as the National Assembly for Wales in 1999, with the inaugural holder being Dafydd Wigley of Plaid Cymru, the Official Opposition in the assembly at the time. Official recognition was granted in October 2000 with the formation of Rhodri Morgan's coalition government between Welsh Labour and the Welsh Liberal Democrats, with Wigley's successor Ieuan Wyn Jones formally being granted the title of Leader of the Opposition as the assembly began to adopt some elements of the style of government as seen in Westminster. The official introduction of the role also signalled a move toward increased predecence for the Official Opposition in plenary sessions of the assembly and on its subject committees, leading to further scrutiny of the government.

The Leader of the Opposition is officially recognised by the Llywydd of the Senedd and on the website of the Senedd as uniquely serving in that position. Sometimes, the Leader of the Opposition is also styled as the Shadow First Minister of Wales, which is a role they can hold as leader of the Shadow Cabinet; this title has been held by Dafydd Wigley and Ieuan Wyn Jones of Plaid Cymru and Nick Bourne of the Welsh Conservatives.

Salary
In 2001, the National Assembly for Wales decided to grant the Leader of the Opposition a dedicated salary, equivalent to that of a minister in the Welsh Government, of around £34,000. By the end of the third legislative term of the National Assembly in 2011, the salary of the Leader of the Opposition was £41,949.

Going into the fourth term of the assembly in 2011, the Independent Remuneration Board of the assembly replaced the dedicated salary of the Leader of the Opposition with a general salary for all opposition party leaders in the assembly, with a miniimum salary of £12,420 which was increased by £1,000 for each seat held by their party. As such, the salary of the Leader of the Opposition, with 14 AMs in their party at the time, was reduced to £26,420 from July 2011 and frozen for a period of four years. In April 2023, Leader of the Opposition Andrew RT Davies's salary as leader of the Conservative opposition group in the Senedd was set at £101,656. In March 2024, Davies's salary was increased to £104,709 for the 2024/25 tax year.

History
Between July 2007 and May 2011, Nick Bourne served as Leader of the Opposition, even though the Conservatives were the third largest group in the Assembly. This was a result of the Welsh Government's make-up consisting of Labour and Plaid Cymru, which were the largest and second largest groups respectively.

Following the 2016 election, Plaid Cymru (led by Leanne Wood) became the largest group not in government, having won 12 seats to the Welsh Conservatives' 11. On 14 October 2016 Dafydd Elis-Thomas left Plaid Cymru to sit as an independent, which resulted in Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Conservatives both holding 11 seats. During this period Leanne Wood was not referred to as Leader of the Opposition but was instead referred to as the leader of Plaid Cymru. The Conservative group grew to 12 following Mark Reckless's defection from UKIP to the Conservative Group on 6 April 2017, and Andrew RT Davies was once again referred to as Leader of the Opposition.

On 29 March 2021 Nick Ramsay left the Welsh Conservative party, meaning that the group had lost its title as the largest party not in government as by this point both the Welsh Conservatives and Plaid Cymru were tied on 10 seats each, with no official office holder of the Leader of the opposition in the final period before the 2021 Senedd election.

Following the 2021 Senedd election the Welsh Conservatives returned 16 seats making them comfortably the second party ahead of Plaid Cymru who won 13 and as a result Andrew RT Davies once again became Leader of the Opposition.