ELECTION 2016 - Preseli Pembs candidates vye for your vote

The Western Telegraph gave each candidate 250 words to put their case across.

In alphabetical order, Frances Bryant (Green), Paul Davies (Conservative), Bob Kilmister (Lib Dem), Howard Lillyman (UKIP), Dan Lodge (Labour) and John Osmond (Plaid Cymru) present their pitches to you, the voters.

FRANCES BRYANT

Wales Green Party

THE Green Party want to shake up the Senedd. We need to bring a fresh approach to politics in Wales. For too long many policies from the Welsh government have been aspirational but we need to translate words into action.

Our policies are based around environmental and social justice. This means that we look at policies and their impact as a whole. A good example is our housing policy. The Greens would build 12,000 houses every year in Wales ensuring that a quarter of those would be social housing.We want to reactivate vacant properties, and build on brownfield sites, but these homes would be built to ‘passive house’ standards resulting in ultra-low energy buildings which use minimal resources to heat. This means that the environmental impact is greatly reduced and families save hundreds on their heating bills.

We are also committed to lifelong learning, keeping the NHS public, increasing renewable energy,extending apprenticeships, protecting rural communities and services and making Welsh local government more open and democratic.

We would restore services which have been removed from Withybush Hospital, ensuring that Pembs residents have good quality local health providers which are so vital to our rural communities. We would integrate social and health care and vastly increase mental health provision which is woefully inadequate at present.

It is important to bring Green voices into the Welsh Assembly. We will fight tirelessly to promote sustainable communities and sustainable environmental policies ensuring government works not just for the few but for the common good of all our residents.

PAUL DAVIES

Welsh Conservative Party

I’m proud of Pembrokeshire - my home, and the home of thousands of hard-working people and that’s why this election is more important than ever to me.

My vision for Pembrokeshire includes standing up for local communities in the wake of proposals to merge local authorities - which will see our unique Pembrokeshire brand disappear and our communities stripped of a local voice.

I’m also pledging to end the centralisation of health services, by re-establishing full time paediatrics and the special care baby unit at Withybush hospital - so that families can have access to lifesaving services on our doorstep.

I will continue to call for the dualling of the A40, which will provide job opportunities and go some way to attracting inward investment to the area and I want to see our local high streets thriving, by bringing forward policies to boot accessibility and by cutting business rates.

I’m pledging to give students the continued choice in their education by continuing to oppose any plans to remove sixth form provision. We need a first class education service that supports children and young people, which delivers an improvement in standards and plays an active role in our local communities.

I will keep promoting Pembrokeshire at every opportunity because we have plenty to be proud of, but more can and must be done and that’s why a vote for Paul Davies is a vote for a strong local voice for Pembrokeshire - for someone standing up for our local communities.

BOB KILMISTER

Welsh Liberal Democrats

Labour’s proposal to bring back Dyfed puts our local economy at risk. Tourism and other industry sectors rely on the Pembrokeshire brand.

Our services are at risk too. Pembrokeshire used to have its own Health Board, providing good services and a balanced budget. However, since Hywel Dda was introduced in 2009, our local health services have been downgraded. That’s why Bob Kilmister puts ‘no to Dyfed’ as the number one priority for the future of our area’s services and prosperity. My 8 Point Plan for Pembrokeshire: Say no to Labour’s plan to bring back Dyfed. Support Bob’s campaign to keep Pembrokeshire.

Withybush Hospital. Return paediatric and maternity provision and protect core services.

Improve access to GPs by training more doctors. The Welsh Government should pay medical students’ university fees and guarantee them a job, in return for five years service within Wales.

End parking charges in our town centres. Let people go shopping and visit the doctor without paying to park.

Build more affordable homes for local people. We can copy other parts of the UK with ideas like Community Land Trusts.

Scrap the Cleddau Bridge tolls. Transfer ownership of the bridge and the repair costs to the Welsh Government.

Give local communities a Right to Bid. Allow local groups protect and run local services like libraries, post offices and pubs.

Reduce VAT to 5% for hotels, restaurants and tourism venues. This will boost rural economies like Pembrokeshire, bringing more jobs.

HOWARD LILLYMAN

UKIP Wales

I have lived here in West Wales for 12 years having decided to relocate to a beautiful part of the country, and live with my lovely partner Sharon.

I came into politics late in life after many years working in Industry and Higher Education.

As a skilled tradesman I worked in R&D in the car industry and afterwards for Oxford University Chemistry Department designing and building research and teaching equipment.

This involved skills in attending to detail, creating and designing, planning, meeting deadlines, solving problems and working in a team.

All of these I intend to use to represent my constituents should I be elected I joined UKIP four years ago after being dissatisfied with the established parties’ policies and leadership.

I believe in the UK withdrawal from the EU thus being able to trade freely with the rest of the world, not held back by endless new laws from Brussels (3,200 since 2010).

Once Britain traded and lead the world in Engineering, Science and Business.

We can once again if we throw off the shackles of protectionism and claim back our right to rule our own Country. If you share the same vision please vote for Howard Lillyman on May 5th.

DAN LODGE

Welsh Labour

I’m a human rights barrister based in Haverfordwest. I represent nurses, teachers and police staff - standing up for their rights in court. I’d be just as strong a voice for you and for Pembrokeshire.

We’ve saved Tax Credits: two out of every three children in Pembrokeshire will benefit. I’ve stood with Paul Rutherford as he fought against the cruel Bedroom Tax. I’ve worked with supporters of the Greens and Plaid Cymru to protest against cuts to disability payments. Politicians should stop bickering and pull together.

Some local politicians are trying to talk down Withybush, using our hospital as a political football. The truth is there’s been massive investment in cancer and dialysis treatment. I’m fighting hard to bring back 24 hour paediatrics at Withybush which is vital for all our families. Labour, the party of the NHS, is investing more in healthcare in Wales than ever before.

Labour is also investing in Pembrokeshire, supporting the Haven Waterway Enterprise Zone, backing brand new businesses, creating new jobs. Cutting edge jobs such as in harnessing marine energy. Labour is investing in our local schools: £150 million in primary school buildings since 2011 alone. Labour Councillors are standing up for parents over difficult choices around secondary school reorganisation.

We are fighting this election on pledges for free childcare; tax cuts for small businesses; 52,000 apprenticeships in West Wales and the Valleys; a new treatment fund for life threatening illnesses; double the capital limit for those going into residential care; an extra £100million to improve school standards.

We must put aside party politics and stand together for Pembrokeshire.

JOHN OSMOND

Plaid Cymru

The overriding issue in the election is restoring the essential maternity and paediatric services to Withybush hospital that have been lost in the past couple of years. Only Plaid Cymru is committed to restoring these services and also has a chance of being in government to put it into effect.

We also need to defend other essential services that are threatened in Pembrokeshire. We will fight the council to stop it taking sixth forms away from secondary schools so that students can choose where to study.

Plaid Cymru is the only party to pledge to provide free care for older people, starting with abolishing charges for home care and for people with dementia in the next five years.

Plaid has ambitious plans for kick-starting the Welsh economy, investing in our transport and industry to create new jobs and promote renewable energy. We will launch a 21st Century Welsh Development Agency.

Preseli urgently needs a stronger voice in Cardiff Bay. We have been let down by the Labour Government for the past 17 years - far too long for just one party to be in power. Only a change in government will give Pembrokeshire a fair deal. The London parties are divided and quarrelling amongst themselves. If Plaid wins in Pembrokeshire we will become the main opposition party in Cardiff Bay and Labour will lose its overall majority. We will then challenge the other opposition parties to support Leanne Wood as First Minister rather than handing Labour another five ineffective years in power.