Alun Davies sacked as Environment Minister in Welsh government

Alun Davies, the Environment Minister in the Welsh government, has been sacked.

His dismissal has come after information emerged that Davies had been repeatedly asking civil servants to provide him with  financial information about opposition Assembly Members (AM) – in particular details of farm subsidies paid to Welsh Conservative Leader Andrew RT Davies and Welsh Lib Dem Leader Kirsty Williams – despite being told that the information was private.

Mr Davies, who is the AM for Blaenau Gwent, also had to apologise last week after it emerged that he broke the Ministerial Code when he lobbied for a race track to be built in his constituency. 

To replace him, it’s reported that the Welsh government will split his portfolio between existing cabinet members and that an existing minister will present the Rural Development Programme 2014-2020, which was Davies’s responsibility.

Carwyn Jones, First Minister, has Davies’s action were “poorly judged” and “inappropriate.”

In a statement Mr Davies said: “I’m remaining absolutely focused on Blaenau Gwent. As I said when I was elected, Blaenau Gwent comes first, second and third.”