Here is the result in plain text:
The leader of the Senedd’s Conservatives and one of his colleagues have missed a vote on the Welsh government’s draft budget after they went to the US for a prayer meeting. Darren Millar and Russell George are attending the National Prayer Breakfast where President Donald Trump is expected to give a speech.
The pair missed the first opportunity to debate Welsh government spending plans for next year. Labour won the vote on Tuesday, assisted by the abstention of Welsh Lib Dem Jane Dodds, as well as the absence of the two senior Conservatives.
The governing party has half the seats in the Senedd and cannot win if the opposition is united in voting against. Before the news emerged that Millar was not present the vote had looked difficult for the government, as it was not clear what Dodds would do until late on Tuesday.
The vote was largely symbolic ahead of a final vote in March, but losing on Tuesday would have embarrassed the government. Dodds has been in discussions with the government on a potential deal to help the spending plans pass next month, but has not yet announced an agreement.
On Tuesday Plaid Cymru accused the Tories of giving up on being an opposition party, while Reform said the Conservatives “don’t care about Wales”. The prayer meeting on 6 February is an important date in the American political calendar and the first since Trump’s inauguration.
Both Tories are trustees of a Christian charity, the Evans Roberts Institute. The institute last year funded Rhys ab Owen to go to the same American event, while he was under investigation for his conduct.
Conservatives have strongly criticised the spending plans and said on Monday night: “It must be voted down.” But it emerged on Tuesday morning Millar would not be there because of what was described as “a long-standing commitment in the US where he will be meeting a number of high-profile politicians”.
Absent Senedd members can ask a member from another party to sit out the vote, an informal arrangement known as pairing. It is understood the Conservatives asked Labour to pair, but the request was rejected.
In the debate, Finance Secretary Mark Drakeford told the Senedd he had been able to “provide an uplift to every part of the public service here in Wales, as well as to many other important areas”.
A Newport Conservative councillor, David Fouweather, said on X: “If this is true it’s an absolute disgrace that two of our members are missing. By not being present they are letting Labour do as they wish.”
A spokesman for Reform, which has no Senedd seats, said: “Today, the Senedd opposition had the opportunity to stand up against Mark Drakeford’s disastrous draft budget. Instead, the Tory leader of the opposition is in Washington DC proving yet again that the Conservatives don’t care about Wales. They are opposition in name only.”
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