COLUMN: “As a Welshpool lad, I’ll fight tooth and nail for my town”

As part of our mission to work with all of the political parties, Welsh Labour’s no 1 ranked Senedd candidate for Gwynedd Maldwyn, Ian Parry, shares his Welshpool roots with our readers. 

“Welshpool is my hometown. I grew up on Castle Walk on Oldford estate. I attended Oldford nursery school, Maesydre Primary School and Welshpool High School.

When I was a kid, going into the town centre from Oldford was like going to the centre of the universe. There was a vibrant local economy with thriving shops. People felt hope for the future.

Then came 14 years of Tory austerity. What followed was shop closures, financial hardship, less resources for our schools, and the buoyancy of the town faded away.

This was the story for many small towns and villages across Mid and North Wales. Public services were eroded, confidence was lost and hope for a brighter future disappeared in the rear-view.

It is Christmas time. A time for family and friends, a time of gift giving and eating lots of food. For many in Welshpool this time of year is one of agonising stress and worry. 

How many parents are going to sleep each night scared they won’t be able to ensure their children wake up happy with lots of gifts? How many are worried they won’t be able to afford the Christmas dinner?

That is why I have been supporting Corey Eadson and all the wonderful staff at the Inglenook Café (pictured), who on the 10th of this month handed out free Christmas dinners to the town’s children. On Christmas Eve, he plans to help feed as many as 200 families in the town, handing out free take-away Christmas dinners. I will be there helping.

No child should go hungry at Christmas time and Corey should not have to do this.

The town we want to see in five years’ time is prosperous with healthy schools, successful small businesses, no children going hungry and plenty of opportunity. It’s a place people want to move to and not away from. It is a place with an abundance of affordable houses, free parking, and a solid health and social care sector.

We need to have bolder ambitions. As your Senedd candidate I want to go to Cardiff Bay with the goal of seeing poverty eliminated by the end of the next Senedd term in 2030.

We do this by changing how we think about economics. My vision of Wales is not one that puts billionaires and big corporations first, but about people, families, and local businesses. Eliminating poverty means no child growing up hungry, no family choosing between heating and eating, and dignity for all, at all stages of life.

It was a Labour government that rebuilt Britain after the Second World War. Creating the NHS, millions of social houses and establishing the welfare state because we believed in the potential of communities like Welshpool.

Welshpool has two Labour councillors, Ben Gwalchmai and David France. Both have worked to deliver free Wi-Fi to the community, talking benches for mental health, solar panels to bring down costs for the town, and much more.

Your Labour councillors have worked for you.

As a Welsh Labour member of the Senedd, I will do the same. As Welshpool lad, I will always fight tooth and nail for my town.”