Election 2019: Meet the candidates for Clwyd South

Christopher James Allen - Plaid Cymru

I’m 52 and live in Trefor, Llangollen. I was born in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. I have lived in Clwyd South for 20 years.

I work as a production engineer in Llangollen. My wife is a teacher in Llangollen.

We have two children. I have a degree in business and technology and am a qualified business advisor.

I have previously worked for Wrexham Council’s economic development department as a business counsellor and have run my own business.

After becoming increasingly frustrated with politics at UK level and the inability of the system to adequately represent Wales, I joined Plaid Cymru in 2015.

I stood for election in 2017 because I was fed up with all the confusion and uncertainty that was being caused by ‘experienced’ politicians; playing games, fighting amongst themselves with little regard for the electorate they were supposed to represent.

Since then the situation has deteriorated further. My experience means I can talk with all sorts of people, irrespective of their background.

In a constituency as diverse as Clwyd South there are very specific issues of heritage; in the west, people associate themselves very firmly with the Welsh language and culture. In the east, there is a definite English attitude and tradition. Across what was the industrial heart of the constituency, it is a mixture of both.

My challenge is to represent everyone here, and not prioritise one community over another. I’m standing again because I want to stand up for everyone and make Clwyd South, and wider Wales, healthier and happier for all our citizens.

Simon Robert Maurice Baynes - Welsh Conservative Party 

I live in Clwyd South just outside Chirk and my top priority is getting Brexit done.

Like the majority of people in Clwyd South, I voted for Brexit. I support the Prime Minister’s new deal and we must honour the result of the referendum, get Brexit done and move on to tackle the challenges facing our country, helped by the recent announcement by Boris Johnson’s government of significant extra spending on the NHS, schools and 20,000 additional police officers.

I am currently campaigning on issues locally, such as reversing the planned cuts by Transport for Wales to some key rail services on the Chester to Shrewsbury line, keeping our local libraries open and improving mobile reception in Clwyd South.

I am a trustee of the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod and run the charity Concertina - Music for the Elderly, which I founded 20 years ago and which provides live music in care homes and day centres across England and Wales.

I stood in the general election in Clwyd South in 2017 and increased the Conservative vote by almost 4,000.

Looking ahead, I will fight hard to make sure the extra £1.2bn which has recently been given by Boris Johnson’s government to the Welsh NHS is spent as much as possible on frontline services in North Wales. Above all, we need to put aside our differences and work together to strengthen our communities and ensure everyone in Clwyd South can prosper and realise their full potential.

Jamie David Adams - The Brexit Party 

Jay Adams is standing as a PPC (prospective parliamentary candidate) in Clwyd South, North Wales.

He is a 31-year-old area sales manager in the construction industry.

He started out on the trade counter at a local builders merchants and through determination and hard work moved up through roles to become the youngest area sales manager in his company.

He has worked for three major PLC companies in senior sales positions, which has taught him the importance of good negotiation skills, determination and hard work.

He was raised in a very working-class background by his mother and step-father.

His mum is a care worker for a local charity and his step-father has a local small business.

He is married and is the father to a four-year-old girl.

These are the driving forces behind his reasons for standing as a PPC, along with wanting to protect our democracy for his family and future generations, he does not feel like any of the current parties represent him, his friends or family.

He feels like Westminster has turned their back on him and everything he cares about.

Calum Dafydd Davies - Welsh Liberal Democrats

My name is Calum Dafydd Davies and I am standing for the Welsh Liberal Democrats in Clwyd South.

I am 25-years-old and come from Bethesda, a Welsh-speaking village in Gwynedd. I was educated in local state schools and then studied in Coleg Menai in Bangor.

Since leaving college I have worked in customer-facing roles in retail. I understand the strain many people are under just holding down a job, dealing with the shadow of redundancy and coping with shifts at anti-social hours.

I am standing in this election because I want Brexit stopped.

I fear Brexit will badly damage the UK financially, politically and socially.

It will make it enormously difficult for us to tackle the problems we face in our society; things that matter, like the environment and crime. Businesses are already leaving our shores.

The bonds that hold the countries of the UK together are disintegrating. People are falling out with their friends, neighbours and families.

Whatever you have been told, we are facing years more of this disruption to our lives unless we stop Brexit.

As an MP, I will work hard to create a society where people can fulfil their potential, free from fear of crime.

A society free from ill-health worsened by air pollution and let down by a health service stretched beyond capacity. I believe that my Party, the Welsh Liberal Democrats, has the right policies to meet the needs of our time.

Susan Elan Jones - Welsh Labour 

Clwyd South is my home. I was born and brought up here, going to Ponciau, Grango and Ruabon schools. My grandfather was a miner, my mother worked in the NHS and my father worked in Brymbo Steelworks.

Before I was elected to Parliament in 2010, I spent 15 years working for charities.

I’m angry the Welsh Government’s budget has been slashed by over £1.4bn since the Conservatives got in in 2010. If re-elected, fighting the damage caused to our vital public services by Tory cuts will be at the top of my agenda.

Locally, I’ll continue fighting for improved access at our train stations and for new health centres. For more affordable homes and improved transport links. For our local businesses and social enterprises such as Plas Madoc Leisure Centre. And for our rural communities.

I totally oppose Boris Johnson’s plans to privatise the NHS through back-door trade deals with Donald Trump.

Like many people in Clwyd South, I’m against Tory plans for a hard-right Brexit which fails to put Welsh people and jobs first. I think the Final say must belong to the people, not Boris Johnson and his rich Tory cronies.

I back tougher action to tackle the Climate Emergency and proper pensions for women born in the 1950s.

The Tories hope to win here by dividing us. I wish we had a fairer electoral system, but under First Past the Post it’s only by voting for me and Welsh Labour that we can make sure they don’t succeed.