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Sunday
08  December

COLUMN: “A week is a long time in politics"

 
01/07/2024 @ 11:16

 

In the latest of his monthly columns, Labour’s candidate Steve Witherden says constituency is on the map for the wrong reasons.

“I recall a somewhat clichéd quote often attributed to Harold Wilson that ‘a week is a long time in politics’.

That quote sums up 14 years of Conservative misrule – 738 long weeks. 14 wasted years characterised by short-term thinking and squandered opportunity. A failure to invest in our economy. A failure to protect the worst off. A failure to put country before party (both uses of that word) and public service before personal gain.

Five Prime Ministers and years of psychodrama and pointless politicking. A ‘rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic’ government.

This election has brought national attention to a part of the country too often forgotten about – Craig Williams has put this constituency on the map for all the wrong reasons. While disowned by his boss, senior local Tories are still backing him. He is fighting on and can still win here.

Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr deserves so much better. We deserve a local MP with experience of real life, not a career politician. We deserve someone who will be Wales’s representative in Westminster, not the other way around.

We deserve a committed, future-focused MP who will take the decisions needed to bring prosperity back to our communities so we can better protect the most vulnerable. To tackle the climate crisis and give our young people the tools they need to get on in life. To make sure everyone’s voice is heard in our beautiful, welcoming, but disparate constituency.

I will be that MP if you put your trust in me. I have been a teacher for nearly two decades and have seen the damage that the Conservatives can do in power. We cannot take another five years of this. With our boundaries extended to include south and west Wrexham, Labour has become the only party that can beat the Tories.

If elected, I will work with community groups and farmers to reduce our carbon footprint while defending the countryside and protecting livelihoods. I will vote to create Great British Energy and a National Wealth Fund to tackle climate change. I will get in the room with Welsh Government ministers to speed up delivery of the Newtown Health Hub, advocate for an expansion of Newtown College, and integrate our disjointed public transport networks.

I will work with NHS leaders in England and Wales to review and improve cross-border healthcare. I will implement Labour’s plan to revitalise our high streets, town centres, and support the small businesses that rely on them. I will fight for more powers and fairer funding for Wales. I will vote into law Labour’s New Deal for Working People and always stand up for workers’ rights. And I will create a constituency cabinet to bring together our colleges, employers, businesses, unions, young people and voluntary organisations to give us a proper collective voice in Parliament.

We need change. But it will not happen unless you vote for it. I hope you can put your trust in me by voting Labour on Thursday, July 4."