Emergency talks have been held by the Welsh Conservative board following the controversial sacking of four shadow cabinet members by leader Andrew RT Davies, BBC Wales understands. The conference call on Friday was arranged to allow board members to express 'concern and anger' at the decision.
A senior figure said there was no support for Mr Davies on the board, with some members threatening to attempt to deselect him as a candidate for the 2016 assembly election. Another source described '100% universal criticism' of the sackings, stating Mr Davies had 'zero support' and was 'completely isolated'.
It is understood that at least one AM who retained his frontbench position is 'considering his position' and may resign, which would throw the leadership into crisis. The party would then have to address the leadership question before the European, general, and assembly elections.
The four sacked AMs—Nick Ramsay, Antoinette Sandbach, Mohammad Asghar, and Janet Finch-Saunders—were dismissed for rebelling against Mr Davies in a vote on devolving income tax. Mr Davies is critical of the 'lockstep' model of income tax powers being devolved, a stance that has put him at odds with Welsh Secretary David Jones.
A Welsh Conservative spokesman declined to comment on internal matters, while a spokesman for the assembly group dismissed the anonymous comments as 'bizarre' and 'source-led', insisting the party is united.
