TWO Tory members who missed Tuesday night’s budget vote to attend a prayer meeting with US President Donald Trump helped the Welsh government pass its £26 billion financial plan.

The draft budget will not be formally adopted until a Senedd vote a month from now. 

But opponents and interest groups sought changes to the distribution of money and a rejection would have caused the government to reconsider.

Three trade union rallies outside the Senedd demanded money for pensioners, extra spending for financially troubled universities and a boost to school budgets.

Tory leader Darren Miller and fellow Senedd member Russell George faced criticism for missing an opportunity to embarrass the government. 

Reform UK claimed that the official opposition “don’t care about Wales.”

Welsh Labour lacks a majority in the Senedd, but the party needs just one opposition member to vote with it for the budget to pass. 

Welsh Liberal Democrat Jane Dodds abstained in Tuesday’s vote, but Senedd insiders believe she has sought a deal allocating extra money to care services.