FORMER Monmouth MP David Davies is remaining tight lipped following his exit from Parliament at the general election. 

The Conservative had represented the constituency since first winning the seat in 2005 which, along with victories in Preseli Pembrokeshire and Clwyd West, brought to an end two Parliamentary terms without any Tory representation in Wales after the party’s wipe out during the 1997 Labour landslide. 

The electoral cycle turned full circle just after 5.30am in the early hours of July 5 after more than 50,000 votes cast across Monmouthshire were counted at Chepstow Leisure Centre. Monmouthshire was the last constituency to declare in Wales and when it was confirmed Labour’s Catherine Fookes had taken the seat with a 3,338 majority it also meant there would be no Conservative MPs elected in Wales for the first time since 2001. 

At the count Mr Davies said: “We must be proud to live in a democracy and happily follow the will of the people.” 

The former MP, who had also represented the area in the then National Assembly of Wales from 1999 to 2007, also thanked his family and the “Monmouthshire Conservative Association for putting up with me for a long time”. 

He became the first sitting Welsh secretary to lose their seat while in post and he also praised the civil servants at the Welsh Office who “always have the interests of our nation of Wales at their heart” and praised Welsh journalists who “do a superb job of holding each and every one of us to account.” 

He also addressed the voters who had “given me a wonderful experience” and added: “I hope I have returned the favour” adding, in Welsh, “diolch yn fawr iawn i chi i gyd (thank you all very much)”. 

Mr Davies this week said he didn’t intend making any further comment as he said “nobody wants to hear from ex politicians”. 

The Conservative share of the vote in Monmouthshire collapsed by 17 per cent to 17,672 from 26,160 votes in 2019 when turnout was at 74.8 per cent compared to the 68 per cent at last week’s election. 

New boundaries also meant the Monmouthshire seat includes areas in the south west of the county such as Caldicot that were part of the former Newport East constituency that was Labour held. 

Labour’s share of the vote increased by 10 per cent and Ms Fookes received a total of 21,010 votes. 

Reform took third place with 5,438 votes, a 10.78 per cent share. It hadn’t stood a candidate in 2019 as the then Brexit Party said it wouldn’t stand in Conservative held seats.