AN INVESTIGATION has concluded that a group of Welsh politicians who drank alcohol in the Senedd may have breached coronavirus restrictions.

Alun Davies, MS for Blaenau Gwent, consumed alcohol with Welsh Conservatives leader Paul Davies, chief whip Darren Millar and the party’s chief of staff Paul Smith in a Senedd tea room - as well as another elected member - the Senedd investigation found.

The incident happened on December 8, four days after a ban on the sale, supply and consumption of alcohol on licensed premises came into force, although off-licences were allowed to sell alcohol until 10pm.

The members involved have been referred to the standards commissioner, and the catering firm involved has been referred to Cardiff council.

Elin Jones, presiding officer, said: "“The Commission’s internal investigation has established that alcohol was consumed by five individuals in the Senedd’s licensed tearoom, four of whom are elected members.

"The investigation has concluded that a possible breach of regulations occurred and therefore the chief executive of the Senedd Commission has referred the matter to Cardiff Council.

"The regulations in place at the time imposed strict restrictions on members of the public with regard to the consumption of alcohol.

"Given that the possible breach in question occurred as a result of the consumption of alcohol by Members of the Senedd I have also written to the Standards Commissioner to ask him to investigate whether these members acted in accordance with the duty in the code of conduct, to conduct themselves in a manner which maintains and strengthens the public's trust and confidence in the integrity of the Senedd."

Welsh Conservative MSs have given their "unanimous support" to Paul Davies who will continue in his post as leader of the group.

While Alun Davies had been suspended from the Welsh Labour group in the Senedd pending the investigation.

It is unclear who the fifth member is. Reports in other media when the incident came to light earlier this week suggested Monmouth MS Nick Ramsay was involved, but he has denied this.

A representative for Mr Ramsay said: "Mr Ramsay did attend the Tea Room on his own at the Senedd, without invitation after work.

"He was hungry as he wanted to get something to eat. He was working on an article for the South Wales Argus.

"He sat on his own and was socially distanced. He attended the Tea Room at approximately 6pm. He had a chicken curry.

"He left at about 8pm. Others came in whilst he was there but it was not a 'gathering' Mr. Ramsay was part of.”

Speaking ahead of the announcement, first minister Mark Drakeford condemned the actions.

He said: "It has always been my view that if you have the privilege of making the law in Wales, you cannot possibly be a law maker and a law breaker.

"We have had to take decisions that have placed the most enormous restrictions on peoples freedoms.

"They have been necessary during the crisis, and the vast majority work so hard to stick to them.

"We cannot expect other people to follow the rules when we are not doing everything we can to make sure we are complying with them ourselves."

Mr Drakeford added: "I understand there was a single member of staff on duty that evening.

"I am very anxious that this does not all result in that person carrying the can for what happened that evening.

"That was a single female member of staff faced with a collection of senior members of the Senedd.

"The idea that that person was to blame seems to me completely incredulous and I have much hope that this does not end in that decision."