Since the last time I wrote this column, I resigned as leader of the Welsh Conservatives.
My position became untenable because a substantial minority of my colleagues were, in essence, unwilling to adapt to the new political realities we face.
We do not live in 2010. Politics has changed across the western world. Across Europe and America, old establishment parties and politicians are on the run, and are being replaced by those who understand the realignment of politics.
My crime was to try and position my party in a place where it could ride that wave, rather than be swept away by the tide.
When the Labour Welsh Government commissions reports that call for dog-free zones to be introduced in the countryside to tackle racism, or gives handouts to illegal immigrants, we have to tackle these points as a point of principle.
But we also have to tackle them as the only viable strategy to see off new political threats and reach into post-industrial areas.
The opportunity is there for the taking. Labour have abandoned their post-industrial heartlands by becoming obsessed with extreme liberal ideology and language policing.
We might sometimes have to use direct language in order to communicate with people. We should make no apology for that.
But far too many people are squeamish about giving a voice to the voiceless by using the language of the pub and the farm rather than the language of the lecture and the common room.
Andrew RT DaviesPAThis extreme liberal ideology is incredibly corrosive to our society. In itself, this is sufficient reason to call it out.
But this ideology also distracts from what should be Senedd ministers’ main priority: the provision of public services.
While Labour politicians focused on paying illegal immigrants £1,600 a month, they ignored our Welsh NHS and our schools.
The result? Longer NHS waiting lists than England and thousands of Welsh pupils leaving primary school unable to read. I make no apologies for demanding Labour ministers rethink their priorities. It’s what the public expects.
Of course, we have to hold incumbent governments to account on the meat and drink issues of health, education and the economy.
But we also have to talk about immigration and cultural issues too. If we are squeamish about taking on controversial subjects that the public want us to take on, we risk electoral oblivion at the hands of others who are willing to do so.
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I understand that it can be difficult for some politicians. Some are ideologically centrist. Some are afraid to take on tricky subjects because they are surrounded by a political, media and lobbying class that is mainly metropolitan and will impose social exclusion on those who speak out against their ideals.
But we have to remember that we are not elected to get comfortable and make friends with journalists, but to give a voice to those who don’t have one.
So the Conservative Party has to decide exactly what it stands for. Are we going to rise to the challenges and the opportunities of a changing political world, or are we going to get swallowed up by others who will do so?
For my part, I will continue to speak, in my own frank way, on the issues that matter to people across Wales and Britain, and I will not shy away from them just to make friends in the Senedd tea room.