LABOUR Leader Jeremy Corbyn believes his party has something to offer Mid Wales should a general election be called this year.

On his visit to the Centre for Alternative Technology in Machynlleth, Mr Corbyn, the leader of the opposition to the current Conservative Government, says he and his party are ready to fight for seats in Mid Wales.

With the UK set to leave the European Union on October 31, potentially without a deal, it has been anticipated that new Prime Minister Boris Johnson may call a General Election soon.

Montgomeryshire is currently held by Conservative MP Glyn Davies who plans to stand down at the next election, and an anticipation of an early election being called, has already seen his potential successor selected.

Mr Davies hopes local candidate Craig Williams will succeed him, while the Liberal Democrats’ Jane Dodds MP took the Radnorshire seat from the Tories in a by-election earlier this month.

New Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited Brecon during campaigning for that by-election which saw Tory candidate Chris Davies narrowly lose his seat, after the election was triggered by a recall petition - after he was convicted of falsifying expenses claims.

Labour came fourth in that by-election, behind the Brexit Party, with just 5.3 per cent of the votes.

Mr Corbyn, who also attended the El Sueno Existe Festival during his stay in Machynlleth, said he hopes Labour’s message of investment in the future will see the party make an impact in the Mid Wales area.

“We came very close in Ceredigion last time,” he said.

“There are a number of constituencies where we would expect to mount a very strong challenge and we are obviously prepared for a General Election.

“Fundamentally our message will be about investment in the future, a national investment bank for the UK, regional investment banks for England and improved support for the Welsh Government for its own investment strategy.”

The first Development Bank of Wales was established by the Labour-run Welsh Government in Wrexham in 2017 to provide the finance and business support to attract and retain micro businesses and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) within Wales.

Mr Corbyn added: “But we will also be about green jobs, green energy and green industrial revolution – and that’s why I’m here at the Centre for Alternative Technology, which I first came to when it opened many, many years ago and have visited a number of times since then.

“I’ve got a lot of time and respect for the work that they do here.”

Mr Corbyn added that he intends to propose a motion of ‘no confidence’ in the Government to try and avoid a ‘no deal’ Brexit.