Meet your Cardiff South and Penarth candidates for the General Election

Voters in Cardiff South and Penarth will have the choice of seven candidates for the parliamentary seat and the Penarth Times has heard from each one this week.

Andrew Bevan (UKIP)

I HAVE a wealth of real-life experience. I have worked as a shift manager in factories, in charge of up to 50 people. For many years I was based at the Sony factory in Bridgend. I have also worked as an English teacher overseas and as a fork lift operator at RAF St Athan. I have played Welsh league football in the south Wales valleys and am a long-standing supporter of Cardiff City FC. We all know that Labour is trying to keep us in the single market - which will mean that we still end up with uncontrolled immigration from the EU. Theresa May, as home secretary, completely failed to stop the flow of migrants into the UK. She will probably fail again once talks begin with the EU leaders. That is why I would urge you to vote UKIP on June 8 to ensure that we get the Brexit that the leave voters all voted for.

Stephen Doughty (Labour Co-operative)

I WAS BORN and brought up in the Vale and Cardiff and live locally. I have a track record of standing up for all my constituents since first being elected in 2012, putting them first before my party or myself. I have worked hard with local people to tackle challenges ranging from the future of the Penarth Pier Pavilion, to speeding, to supporting our local veterans - and on issues like the over-development of Sully and Llandough – as well as supporting thousands of people with individual problems and holding my regular surgeries at the West House. If re-elected I promise to fight to stop the Tories attack on pensioners, especially women; to fight for local jobs and businesses; to fight for a fair deal on trade and funding for Wales; to fight for action on poverty and climate change; and to always keep our country safe and secure. I’m proud of our country and optimistic – despite challenging times - but I will fight against more Tory cuts to Wales hitting our public services, our police, and the vulnerable. The fight is between me, your local campaigner, and an unknown Tory who lives in a village in north Oxfordshire.

Jebediah Hedges (Pirate Party)

CARDIFF South and Penarth has always been a Labour seat, but the Pirate Party are offering a real change to our outdated and unstable political system. We do not use party whips, which means I will work for the people and only for them. We employ crowd-sourced, evidencebased policies. Complete transparency and accessibility are key Pirate principles. I believe elected politicians need to be transparent and open to allow informed votes. If elected, I will be absolutely transparent with my constituents. As a store manager and a member of a traders’ association and a manager, I understand small business and will fight to support the small businesses in Penarth. As a music teacher, education is important to me and engaging young people in politics is something I think is of paramount importance. I believe I can be a viable alternative for those disenfranchised with the mainstream two-party politics. I have family ties to Penarth, and strong professional ties to Grangetown. This culturally rich area is a place of great importance to me. The Pirate Party is the true party of culture, as we support the free sharing and remixing of ideas, which has underpinned our culture for hundreds of years.

Bill Rees (Conservatives)

THE key question for us at this election is who do we trust to lead us into a new and prosperous relationship with the EU and with the rest of the world? Theresa May has demonstrated that she has a clear plan to take the country forward, unlike Jeremy Corbyn who has lost the confidence of even his own party. As a proud Welshman with considerable business and negotiation experience, I would as your MP work with Theresa May and her team to make sure that we get the best deal for Cardiff South and Penarth through the Brexit process. I will be a strong voice for Penarth. I am passionate about supporting small and mediumsized businesses in the town and I am determined to find a sustainable solution for the Pier Pavilion which has the potential to be a major tourist attraction and community hub if we get it right. I was born in Pembrokeshire, west Wales where I was brought up on a family-run dairy farm. I am a fluent welsh speaker and I’m married to Joanna (who is an author) and we have two children.

Emma Sands (Liberal Democrats)

I CURRENTLY work for RNIB Cymru in Cardiff as their public affairs manager and live in Penarth. I became actively involved in politics after the EU Referendum and have never stood as a candidate anywhere before. I’m standing because for the first time in my life, I can’t stand on the sidelines. At the moment, all people are being offered is the choice between different versions of a disastrous hard Brexit that will wreck the economy and cost jobs. I want to offer the people of Cardiff South and Penarth a different vision, one that the Welsh Liberal Democrats provide, of an open, tolerant and prosperous Wales. I also want you to have the final say on any deal that’s reached, so you can judge for yourself whether your politicians have done their job properly. My work gives me insight into how politics affects individuals and communities, and how to influence decisions. I want to represent Cardiff South and Penarth, so local people have someone at Westminster who really cares about the issues affecting them, and who also has the background to fight and campaign on their behalf. 

Anthony Slaughter (Green Party)

I HAVE lived in Penarth for more than thirteen years and work locally as a garden designer. I have a long history of grassroots community activism, from campaigning for clean air and safe 20mph speed limits to organising the popular Penarth Local Food Festival. I have been the Green Party candidate for the area in elections at all levels, locally and nationally, since 2012, and we have seen the Green’s share of the vote improve at each election. Our response to the growing threat of climate change must be at the heart of all government policy. We must protect the natural world which is our life support system for our children and future. The Greens are offering voters a different vision for the future with strong policies on climate change, the environment and the increasing social inequality across our society. Greens will push to ensure that Wales plays its part in the inevitable clean, green energy revolution. Our policies will create an economy that works for all and a true citizen’s democracy, where all votes count, giving people a real say in their future. This is more important than ever as we determine our future relationship with the European Union. 

Ian Titherington (Plaid Cymru)

I AM A 50-YEAR-OLD married man with three boys. I am a civil engineer of some 27 years experience and work for Cardiff County Council. Our family lives in the heart of the constituency in Grangetown, Wales’s most multi- cultural community and the children attend a Welsh medium school. I have been an active trade union steward all his working life and an anti-fascist organiser at a Wales level. I currently sits on a UK task group for the Institution of Civil Engineers, promoting innovative and sustainable drainage approaches in construction projects. I have previous experience as an Assembly and Westminster election candidate and am a former director of finance and director of elections for Plaid Cymru. My ambitions are to make Wales a more confident, equal and environmentally sustainable nation, and to fight for and defend the best interests of the communities of southern Cardiff and Penarth, as their member of Parliament in Westminster.