Plaid Cymru have selected Steffan Lewis to fight the Islwyn constituency at next year’s National Assembly elections. Mr Lewis who fought the seat at the last UK General Election said following his selection, that the party is being reinvigorated by a slate of young candidates, particularly in the Valleys.
Following his selection Mr Lewis said:
“I am immensely proud to have been selected by local members to fight my home constituency. There is a real appetite among local activists to prove that our victory here in 1999 was no fluke and that we are the rightful inheritors of the radical tradition of the Valleys.”
Mr Lewis said that Plaid Cymru faced a challenge to prove it is serious about transforming the lives of the people of the former industrial heartlands and said the party had taken huge strides to overcome historic misconceptions. He added:
“For years, people in the Valleys thought Plaid was a pressure group, rather than a serious political force for change. Today, we are able to face the electorate as a serious party of government, responsible for driving change in areas such as economic development, regeneration and housing.
“Across Valleys communities for so long, so many people have been left in despair, believing their vote to be useless in the face of considerable Labour majorities. Our challenge now is to demonstrate that we can, as we did a little more than a decade ago, defeat the Labour party and provide inpiring and ambitios representation for Valleys communities.
“The next 8 months, the run-up to the Assembly election in May, is an exciting time for us in Plaid. my aim is to inspire voters across the Valleys. We will be presenting them with an exciting and ambitious vision for our nation’s future. We will continue to communicate the message that we’re a party for all Welsh communities and that our values are based on a radical Welsh agenda. The advancement of social justice, of creating safer and prosperous Valleys communities rests with us.”
