‘Caerphilly deserves delivery, not division – that’s why I’m standing’

I never expected to be to be in this position. An unexpected candidate in a wholly unexpected by-election. Hefin David, the MS for Caerphilly who died in August, was my friend and mentor. I had never considered running for election before he suggested it. His kindness, his passion for the people of Caerphilly, and his tireless work to listen to and stand up for his constituents has been at the heart of our campaign to retain his seat. 

While I’ve been a Labour member since I was 15, I’m not a career politician. But alongside Hefin’s mentorship, the thing that clinched my decision to stand was the threat of Reform taking hold in Wales.

I moved to Caerphilly county over 25 years ago, and the people here welcomed me. My wife is from the area, and we returned to raise our boys here.  Now there are people sowing division in the place that my family and I call home, and I can’t stand by and let that happen.

‘Those who hide behind division will not fix anything’

I am not denying that times are tough. People have been ground down, feel like things aren’t getting done quickly enough, and that they’re not being listened to. 

That hasn’t just happened. It’s the consequence of fourteen years of Conservative governments, which cut services to the bone, underfunded Wales and its public services, and put party politics before the people they were supposed to serve. Add in major global events, and a pandemic, and it’s no wonder that people are feeling that politics as usual doesn’t work for them anymore. And I can’t blame them. 

There are very real problems that need addressing in our country, and Caerphilly is no exception. But those who hide behind division, who shout about problems whilst offering no real solutions, will not fix anything. They use pain as a political tool.

READ MORE: Caerphilly by-election becomes test of Labour resilience amid Reform threat

‘You can’t trust Reform as far as you can throw them’

A prime example: Llyr Powell, the Reform UK candidate in this by-election, has focused his campaign on immigration – something the Welsh Government has no control over – in a borough with the lowest immigration of any local authority in Wales, just 2.9%.

I’m not saying there aren’t legitimate concerns about illegal immigration, securing the borders of the UK and ensuring fairness in the immigration system. But talking up an issue over which the winner of this by-election will have no control in an area where levels of immigration are the lowest in Wales, is at best, arrogant, and at worst, fearmongering. 

What scares me most about Reform is the unknown. The lack of credible policies – something which they proudly say they don’t need at this stage – the hokey-cokey of their politicians being in the party one day and out the next. The threat, repeatedly made by Nigel Farage, to explore an insurance-based NHS system, betrays the very heart of Valleys Labour values.

You can’t trust them as far as you can throw them. Would they sell off our NHS? Would they begin to charge for prescriptions, which the Welsh Labour Government have kept universally free since 2007? They talk of cutting waste, but would they just cut our services to the bone? We just don’t know.

What we do know is Reform politicians have repeatedly flirted with NHS privatisation, Farage wanted to reopen the coal mines, and they’ve already had to walk back on their manifesto claim that they could cut taxes by £90 billion.

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‘I don’t want my home being used as a pawn in political games’

So that begs the question: how do we stop Reform?

Is it by voting for Plaid Cymru? The Welsh nationalist party that wants to break up the United Kingdom, dividing our country just as much as Reform UK does.

The party that is hiding the reality that an independent Wales would mean each person in Wales would need to pay an extra £7,000 per year in order to receive the same level of public services that we do now.

The party that wants to take Wales out of NATO, risking defence jobs and our security at home.

The party that has no fully costed plans for Wales and no record of delivery.

No. It’s with Welsh Labour, the party that puts delivery above division. The party bringing down NHS waiting lists and delivering millions of free school meals to schoolchildren. The party that is proudly pro-devolution and pro-union, bringing people together, not pitting neighbour against neighbour.

Whoever wins here in Caerphilly will have six months before Wales goes to the polls again to elect their next cohort of Senedd Members. For me, it’s important to be honest and realistic with people in what I can deliver. People are sick of broken promises from politicians. I’m standing in this Caerphilly Senedd by-election because I don’t want my home being used as a pawn in political games. I want to get stuff done, just like Hefin did. 

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