AM's father blocked as candidate

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A Conservative councillor has been dropped as a Welsh assembly elections candidate after calling for the body to be scrapped.

Peter Davies, the father of Monmouth MP and AM David Davies, said he would use party procedures to "clear his name".

Peter Davies likened his treatment to behaviour in China under Chairman Mao.

The party declined to comment but a spokesman confirmed a review of his suspension from the potential candidate list would take place "shortly".

Current Tory policy is to make Welsh devolution work, but its 2005 assembly election manifesto promised to give voters a chance to abolish it.

This is the type of behaviour one might have expected in Mao's China a few decades ago... Councillor Peter Davies

In a letter to the Western Mail last October Peter Davies wrote: "Since only 24.7% of the Welsh people voted for an assembly and now after eight years we know that it doesn't work, the best way to save money would be to abolish the assembly and all its members!"

Shortly afterwards Conservative assembly leader Nick Bourne said the letter "hadn't gone unnoticed" and asked party officials to remove Mr Davies from the candidate list "urgently".

That suspension has now happened, just before a deadline for applying for places left on the Tory regional list for May's assembly elections.

'Such contempt'

A letter from the board of the Welsh Conservative Party stated: "It was decided to set up a sub-committee to look into a complaint regarding your conduct as a member of the Welsh assembly candidates list..."

It continued: "...I regret to inform you that it was decided to suspend you from the candidates list with immediate effect pending a proper review at which you will have the opportunity to present your case."

In reply, Mr Davies said he had "never known the party treat its workers with such contempt".

He said the Welsh Conservative Party appeared to have "decided to abandon all semblance of justice and is willing to suspend candidates whose views on devolution differ from Nick Bourne's".

Mr Davies added: "This is the type of behaviour one might have expected in Mao's China a few decades ago, but is surely not appropriate to a modern political party..."

Peter Davies, a Newport councillor, has now resigned from the list of candidates, but is planning to attend the review.

He said he had to do so in order to clear his name.