David Melding is the Conservative AM for South Wales Central and the deputy Presiding Officer of the National Assembly for Wales. He was previously the Shadow Minister for Economic Development and the Welsh Conservatives' director of policy and has previously chaired the Assembly's Health and Social Services, and Standards of Conduct Committees. Born in Neath in 1962, David is the former manager of the Carers National Association in Wales and a former Deputy Director of the Welsh Centre for International Affairs. He is the author of a number of publications, most recently Will Britain Survive Beyond 2020?

The Reformed Union

“It is time for all the political parties that believe in Britain to unite and set out a vision for a British federation in which the Home Nations will flourish.” Discuss

Saving the Union

The speed of the game in the UK has now changed, and unionists must now offer a better and more expansive vision than the beguiling image projected by Alex Salmond, argues Wales’ most distinguished right wing constitutional thinker

What’s in a name?

One of the longest serving Conservatives in the National Assembly makes his case for a new name for his party in Wales, as a signal of a new and greater ambition

Time for the F-Word

“A written constitution is no more than a very useful rule book.” Like grammar, argues our erudite editor, it is ever adapting

A fascinating account of the ordeals of leadership

Alex Salmond is the British Isles’ leading nationalist figure, and the subject of a new and insightful biography by WalesHome contributor David Torrance

Where is Saunders Lewis?

In the second of today’s pieces marking Saunders Lewis’s birthday, David Melding AM offers an impassioned plea for the Plaid founder and poet to take his place at the heart of Wales’s national conversation

We should do God

As the Pope visits the UK, it is timely to emphasise the value of religion in anchoring politics and public life

The original Red Tory

Noel Skelton’s name is thankfully being rescued from historical obscurity – and not a moment too soon, for he has much to say about how the great Tory party positions itself for social and electoral success

Eisteddfod diary and memories of salad days

Our Sixth Columnist takes a trip to Ebbw Vale and reflects on the Eisteddfod’s place in Welsh culture – and his own less than successful 1992 bid to become the Valleys’ first Tory MP since the days of Mabon

Hasta la vista, modern economics

Sixth Columnist David Melding AM gives his view on how our economics have conspired to work against most of us, and threatens a move to one of the world’s last communist countries if things don’t change

Carwyn Must Respect the Union

“If the Wales Labour Party can’t work with a Conservative UK government, the British state is in real trouble” argues our leading Conservative thinker

The gambler’s guide to the World Cup

THE GOOD news is that I didn’t draw North Korea or New Zealand in the sweepstake. Some may be tempted by the odds of 1000-1 or even longer, but it would be money down a rat hole. However, I have no great hope for Uruguay – the team I did draw – who are probably [...]