Darren Millar

Darren David Millar (born 27 July 1976) is a Welsh politician who has served as the leader of the Welsh Conservatives since 2024. He was elected Member of the Senedd (MS) for Clwyd West in 2007 and since May 2026 has represented Clwyd. Millar was also the Leader of the Opposition in Wales from December 2024 to January 2026.

Background Millar was born and grew up in Towyn.

Early career and qualifications Before being elected to the Senedd, Millar worked as a manager for an international charity supporting persecuted Christians around the world.

Religious ministry Millar was commissioned as a Minister by the Assemblies of God in Great Britain in May 2015. He stepped down from the role at the end of August 2025.

Millar is also involved with the Evan Roberts Institute, a registered charity named after the Welsh revivalist, which was formed in 2013 to safeguard sites of religious and spiritual significance in Wales. The institute lists its charitable objective as "advancing the Christian religion in Wales… through the preservation of sites of religious significance".

Local government In 1999, Millar ran for the Towyn ward on Conwy County Borough Council, and for Towyn and Kinmel Bay town council. He was not elected to the county council, but was elected to the town council. From 2000 to 2001, Millar was mayor of the township of Towyn and Kinmel Bay. He was also a member of Conwy County Borough Council from 2004, the North Wales Police Authority and the North Wales Fire and Rescue Service.

In 2006, while a member of Conwy Council, Millar was referred to the standards watchdog, after complaints from the Unite, Unison and GMB trade unions about comments he made alleging that staff were abusing or misusing the sick pay system.

Senedd In the 2003 Senedd election, at age 25, and stated he believed that creationism should be taught in science lessons. Millar alleged that he had been misrepresented, and stated that he did not believe anyone should be discriminated against on the basis of sexuality, and stated that "school governors, parents and teachers should have flexibility in their curriculum". He was successfully elected to the Clwyd West seat, unseating the incumbent Labour MS, Alun Pugh. Pugh was the only Cabinet Minister to be defeated in the election.

After his election to the Senedd in 2007, Millar was appointed Shadow Minister for Environment and Planning by Nick Bourne. While in this role he campaigned for targets to reduce emissions, supported the banning of single-use plastic bags, and was supportive of investment in biofuels. He also initially said that fear of flooding must not prevent construction on floodplains, but that "you've also got to look at strengthening our flood defences", but later supported a ban on building on floodplains, and a substantial increase in spending on flood defences.

He was critical of the Welsh Government's provision of free prescriptions, saying it would lead to prescription tourism, and that he was aware of caravan owners who registered with GPs in his constituency to avoid paying charges.

He served in this role until February 2009, when he was moved to be Shadow Minister for Communities and Local Government. In November 2010, he was appointed Shadow Minister for Economy and Transport.

Fourth and Fifth Senedds After his re-election in 2011, he was appointed Shadow Minister for Health by interim leader Paul Davies. He retained this role after Andrew RT Davies was elected leader and formalised the interim Shadow Cabinet, and throughout the remainder of the term. After the 2016 Senedd elections, Millar was appointed Welsh Conservative education spokesperson, as Plaid Cymru became the Official Opposition. In April 2017, he became Shadow Minister for Education, as the Welsh Conservatives returned to opposition.

Millar was discussed as a candidate to replace Andrew RT Davies at the 2018 Welsh Conservatives leadership election, but he did not contest the election. After Paul Davies was elected as leader of the Welsh Conservatives, Millar was appointed as Welsh Conservative Chief Whip, Welsh Conservative Policy Director, and Shadow Cabinet Secretary for External Affairs and International Relations.

Sixth Senedd He returned to the role of Chief Whip in May 2021, after the 2021 Senedd election, alongside a role as Shadow Minister for the Constitution and North Wales.

Millar has been drawn to table a Members' Bill on three occasions.

In November 2023, he was selected as the Conservative Party prospective parliamentary candidate for the new constituency of Clwyd North at the 2024 general election. He came second, losing to the Labour candidate by 1,196 votes.

In 2024, Millar tabled a non-binding motion of no confidence in First Minister Vaughan Gething, over donations made during the 2024 Welsh Labour leadership election and the sacking of former Social Partnership Minister Hannah Blythyn. The motion passed 29-27. Gething described the motion as a 'gimmick' and said he would remain as First Minister.

Leadership of the Welsh Conservatives in the Senedd

After Andrew RT Davies resigned as leader of the Welsh Conservatives in the Senedd, Millar put out a statement saying he would run to lead the Senedd group. He quickly obtained the support of six of his colleagues, Paul Davies, Russell George, Tom Giffard, James Evans, Altaf Hussain and Gareth Davies within 24 hours, and the whole group within 48 hours.

In the 2026 Senedd election, was elected as the Conservatives' top candidate in the Clwyd constituency.

Political views

Brexit He was one of four then-sitting Conservative MSs (along with Andrew RT Davies, Janet Finch-Saunders and Mark Isherwood) to vote for Brexit in the 2016 Brexit referendum.

Health and NHS Millar has been a "fierce critic" of NHS prescriptions having been made free. He has argued that free prescriptions would lead to "prescription tourism", claiming he was aware of caravan owners who registered with GPs in his constituency to avoid paying charges. He has called for strong leadership to address what he describes as the health board's "four years of failures" under Welsh Government control.

Education Millar has been critical of Wales's educational performance, describing the Welsh education system as being "at the bottom of the UK and global education league tables".

He supports educational choice and has opposed what he describes as "language bans" in schools. Regarding Gwynedd County Council's proposal to phase out English-medium education, Millar stated: "Parents and pupils in every part of Wales must have the right to be educated through either of our country's two official languages: English or Welsh." While describing himself as "proudly pro-Wales and pro-Welsh language", he argues that promoting Welsh should be through "encouragement and choice – not compulsion".

Immigration In his leadership role, Millar has taken a strong stance on immigration, stating that "millions of people in Wales are rightly concerned about immigration, and it's clear that action is needed to get numbers down".

Constitutional matters Millar opposes further devolution and the expansion of the Senedd. In his 2025 keynote speech, he pledged that "only the Conservative and Unionist Party will reverse the increase in Senedd Members and ensure that no more powers are devolved".

Controversies Association with Yang Tuck Yoong Millar has faced criticism for his association with Yang Tuck Yoong, a senior pastor in the Pentecostal Cornerstone Community Church in Singapore who has described homosexuality as an "abomination" and a "sin". In 2013, Yoong said that homosexuality "is far more rampant, militant and organised than most of us actually believe".

Human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell expressed that Yang Tuck Yoong's views are "not compatible with humanitarian values". In 2019, Millar and his colleague Russell George were urged to cut their links with the Evan Roberts Institute due to its connection with Pastor Yang.

COVID-19 regulations investigation In January 2021, the Senedd Commission investigated Millar for an alleged breach of COVID-19 regulations. The investigation concerned allegations that Millar, Welsh Conservative leader Paul Davies, party chief of staff Paul Smith, and Labour MS Alun Davies had consumed alcohol in a Senedd tea room on 8 December 2020, four days after a ban on the sale, supply and consumption of alcohol in licensed premises had come into force in Wales.

Millar resigned from his frontbench roles on 23 January 2021 after Paul Davies resigned as party leader the same day.

Both Millar and Davies were later cleared of any wrongdoing by South Wales Police, Cardiff City Council, the Senedd Commission and the Senedd Standards of Conduct Committee. In April 2022 a report published by the Senedd Standards Committee found that no laws or standards of conduct had been breached. He has been a citizen of both the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland for decades.