My name is Mr Asghar Javed Ali and I am the Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Islwyn Constituency, South Wales.

I have been a Liberal Democrat councillor for the past six years. I have been married for 35 years and have four children. I started taking real interest in politics in 1970 and have been an active supporter of the Liberal Democrats since 1983.

In 2001, I was elected as vice chair for Cardiff Central Constituency. I work hard for the party gathering ethnic minority support, persuading people to take an interest in politics and convincing them to sign up for Liberal Democrat membership.

I successfully recruit a lot of members from ethnic minorities for the party.

In the 2004 local election, after a very successful campaign on behalf of the party in Grangetown, all three Labour councillors were replaced by Liberal Democrats. We have worked hard in the ward as a team of councillors and have gained a lot of support for the party.

Within the first year of being a councillor I was elected as a Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the party in the 2005 General election. Extensive campaigning resulted in a 4 per cent gain in the constituency, a considerable achievement for the party.

After the 2005 General Election I carried on working successfully as a councillor in my ward. In the 2007 Welsh Assembly election I was an AM candidate for the South Wales Central region. After another successful campaign the party managed a considerable gain.

I have also been a very active member within the ethnic minority community helping and advising where deemed necessary. I have been chairman of Madina Mosque and community centre, Cathays, Cardiff for the last 18 years.

I am also a founding member of Pakistan Welfare Association for Wales and have been an executive member of the Race Equality Council for the past 17 years. Furthermore for the last five years, I have also been a member of the Cardiff police community independent advisory group.

In my opinion Islwyn has been let down since the collapse of heavy industry by a series of Labour and Conservative governments in Westminster.

Liberal Democrats plan to create jobs through a one year economic stimulus plan which will benefit the people in Islwyn as we invest £125m in the Welsh economy. Our plans to invest in schools in the valleys will also make sure that everyone in Islwyn had the skills they need to success.