'We're not the establishment party': Five takeaways from Tory Darren Millar's phone-in

Welsh Conservative Senedd leader Darren Millar is the first of the major party leaders to appear on the BBC Radio Wales Phone-In as elections to the Welsh Parliament loom in May.

He took questions from listeners and host Jason Mohammad, as the conversation ranged from opinion polls and the NHS, to reform of Welsh rugby and Olympic-size swimming pools.

So what did we learn?

The Tories are still struggling with the legacy of their party having been in power at Westminster for 14 years until 2024, and presiding over austerity - or cuts to public services.

One of the show's callers - Jill, who was visiting Abergavenny from Stroud, Gloucestershire - summed it up as the "overall umbrella" of Conservative austerity that had affected Wales and England.

Earlier, Millar acknowledged, diplomatically, that "people were reflecting on previous UK Conservative governments" on the doorsteps.

He also said that people were disillusioned with Labour, but recent polling suggests the Tories are not seen as an alternative. Many left-leaning voters are being wooed by Plaid Cymru and many right-leaning voters appear to prefer Reform UK.

Millar said that the Conservatives are not "the establishment party in Wales", and it is true that it has never been in government in Cardiff Bay.

But it is very much part of the establishment at Westminster, and that could count against Millar and his Welsh colleagues in May.

It was no surprise that plenty of callers focused on the state of the Welsh NHS, be that the availability of dentists or waiting lists.

The Tories have already promised to declare a Covid-style "health emergency" to try to bring those lists down. They are still high, albeit having fallen by a record amount last month.

Millar promised more details on his NHS plans "in the coming weeks", but suggested more money for the health service by cutting other areas, such as the "millions" spent on Welsh government overseas offices and the Nation of Sanctuary scheme, which helps refugees and asylum seekers.

That scheme has cost just under £64m since 2019. The NHS alone takes up more than half the Welsh government's annual £27.5bn budget.

He also promised to "save the public money" by investing in training for more medical staff and ease the reliance on locum and agency staff, but he did not provide figures.

He warned any change would not "happen overnight".

It has been one of the themes of the week after the first minister's blunt call on the public to stop watching Netflix and support struggling pubs instead.

Des from Bangor bemoaned the "desolate" state of his local shopping centre.

Millar repeated the Tory pledge to cut scrap business rates for most small businesses, but did not say how much it would cost.

He also dangled the prospect of punishing councils for not cleaning up graffiti or emptying bins.

"We've got to make sure there's a framework in place to guarantee that those sorts of things are dealt with... and that local authorities again have an incentive, either via penalties or financial incentives, in order to make that happen," he said.

Millar said that Welsh Rugby Union plans to cut the number of professional sides from four to three would be "potentially disastrous".

He said that the lack of an Olympic-size – in other words 50m – swimming pool in north Wales "needs to be looked at".

And he hinted that his party could introduce free bus travel for 16-25 year olds. There's a flat £1 single fare for 5-21 year olds at the moment.

The Welsh Tories lost Laura Anne Jones to Reform in the summer, and we are still waiting to see if sacked former Conservative James Evans will follow suit after admitting he had spoken to Nigel Farage's party about defecting.

Robert Jenrick and Suella Braverman have been recent high profile UK defectors.

Millar seemed confident there would be no more Welsh Tories jumping ship.

"I am not expecting any more defections. We have a strong and united team," he said.

The Radio Wales Phone-in has invited each of the Welsh party leaders or representatives on to the programme over the next six weeks.