Blaenau Gwent election candidates’ statements

Tracey West, Conservative

Blaenau Gwent is my home town and always will be.

I was brought up in Nantyglo and now live in Ebbw Vale. The future of my home is important to me.

I believe Blaenau Gwent needs so much more support than we currently get. We need to attract more business into the area, get more people into work and attract more investment.

I am particularly concerned about the lack of affordable homes - particularly for young people trying to get onto the housing ladder. Better transport infrastructure is a must, along with clarity over plans for the Circuit of Wales.

Developed areas, like health and education, need to be improved and the Welsh NHS needs extra funding.

This election is the most important for generations. There is so much at stake – particularly with difficult Brexit negotiations on the horizon.

Only Theresa May can provide the strong and stable leadership Wales and the rest of the UK needs to get us through those negotiations and emerge with the best deal possible.

The alternative is a coalition of chaos led by Jeremy Corbyn. Labour has taken Wales for granted for too long. It’s time for change. On June 8, vote Welsh Conservative.

Cameron Sullivan, Welsh Liberal Democrats

I WAS born, bred, educated and worked all my adult life in the South Wales Valleys.

I have a keen interest in both local and international politics as well as history and business.

I have worked for many years in the South Wales Valleys promoting education and training to those in and out of work. With the Welsh Liberal Democrats, I have actively campaigned to bring real and lasting improvement to the lives of local people. My burning ambition is to enhance the Liberal Democrat aspirations for an open, free, fair and tolerant society. Brexit will happen, but somebody needs to be looking out for the interests of Wales not Westminster, hardworking people not big business, local communities not self-interested politicians.

Brexit must make things better not worse, and people should have the final say, not the politicians.

Blaenau Gwent deserves to be represented by somebody with the desire to bring back the vibrancy and success the area once had. I want to deliver the best opportunities and infrastructure for everybody in the area including children and young people, working people, senior citizens and those economically inactive.

There have been so many hollow promises and worthless pledges. It is about time that politicians started to actually deliver for our local communities.

Nick Smith, Labour

I GREW up in Tredegar in a family of miners and steel workers. I was drawn into politics by the miners’ strike, when I picked coal to keep our home warm.

I went to the local comprehensive. After an MSc at university, I became a Welsh Labour organiser.

My home is in Nantyglo and my passion is representing the people of these valleys.

Jobs are my priority. Welsh Labour has stood by the people – widening the Heads of the Valleys road for better business links. On the Works site, we now have an outstanding college and train station.

I support the Circuit of Wales, but much more needs to be done from Tredegar across to Ebbw Vale then Brynmawr to Blaina and down to Abertillery.

I’ve taken on the rip-off merchants with their sky-high loans. I speak up for those punished by Tory pension age changes, and campaigned to protect the elderly from abuse in care homes.

Blaenau Gwent voted to leave the EU and I’ll work tirelessly for a Brexit that works for our people.

Life can be tough in our lovely constituency, but it’s also a place of hope and optimism. It is the home that I love.

Nigel Copner, Plaid Cymru

I SPENT my childhood in Hilltop, Ebbw Vale, and attended the local comprehensive.

I took my first degree, in physics, at Reading University, and my postgraduate in laser physics at Swansea. Since then, I have worked abroad, in Canada, Silicon Valley, and other places, but I am now chair and director of WORIC at the University of South Wales and director of research into Nanotechnology at a Chinese University.

I decided to return to my home town to raise my family, and my children receive their education in local schools. I am part of this local community but I am distressed by the neglect and despair all around me, and this is what motivated me both to join Plaid and to stand up for Blaenau Gwent.

I have barely been in politics for two years but in that time I have helped countless people resolve their issues (as an elected member might have done), and in 2016, in my first ever campaign, I succeeded in reducing an ultra-safe Labour seat at the Assembly to a marginal one.

I am passionate about delivering positive outcomes for the communities of Blaenau Gwent, and particularly concerned to improve both education and employment opportunities.

Dennis May, Ukip

Blaenau Gwent voted overwhelmingly for Brexit last year. UKIP is still the only party totally committed to the UK leaving the European Union. Despite what Theresa May is saying we must never lose sight of the fact that she was a remainer, as indeed were Labour MPs who campaigned ceaselessly to keep us in the EU.

It is vitally important that UKIP has a strong vote in this election as we are the one party which can promise to keep the pressure on the Tories to deliver the Brexit you voted for. A vote for Tory, Labour, Lib Dem, Greens or Plaid is a vote to remain in the EU.

Luckily I belong to a party that allows its representatives to vote in the interest of the people, rather than our party. Our manifesto is again a sensible one and unlike the Tories and labour we make no outrageous promises! They will fail to keep those promises just like they always have?

People keep telling us, and you that UKIP is finished, but let me tell you, we have only just started. We are here to stay, and protect this country and enhance the life chances of our people.