IT’S A great honour to have been re-elected as your Assembly Member for Cardiff South and Penarth. The election gave me the opportunity to talk to more people from across the constituency than ever before.

It also gave me the opportunity to lose some weight and get fitter. I would like to thank all of those who spoke or wrote to me. Hearing and listening to the concerns of constituents is hugely important to me.

The election wasn’t a perfect result for Welsh Labour but it was better than the pundits predicted. We are still by far the largest party – but we cannot be complacent.

The next Assembly term will be interesting and we face major challenges. We know from the decisions the Conservative Government in Westminster have made that Wales will again have less money to fund its public services.

However, amidst these challenges Welsh Labour will protect our NHS, improve schools standards and continue to work together for Wales. I’m only back as your local AM because dozens of volunteers knocked doors, delivered leaflets, made calls and persuaded people to vote. Without that team of people I wouldn’t be here.

New national challenges and opportunities will present themselves over the course of the next Assembly term, but it’s important not to lose sight of local issues. Every decision that I make in the Assembly will affect people in Cardiff South and Penarth, and that is in my mind every time I vote.

Going in to the election I pledged to vote to invest £100 million to raise the standards of schools, 30 hours of free child care for 48 weeks of the year for working parents of three and four year olds, tax cuts for all small businesses, a new treatment fund to give Welsh patients access to treatments for life threatening illnesses first, and a doubling of the capital people can keep when entering residential care.

I will also vote to deliver on our promise for a £2 billion school building programme and to create 100,000 apprenticeships for people of all ages. These ambitious pledges were the promises we made to the people of Cardiff South and Penarth at the election.

As we did at the last election, we will keep our promises. I will also continue to undertake individual cases on behalf of constituents on issues such as school placements, parking, and health issues. My office is open to all constituents of Cardiff South and Penarth and is contactable by email, phone, or post.

I look forward to serving my constituents for another five years. I would like to say thank you again to everyone who supported me and to everyone who took part in the election.