Having lived in this constituency for nearly thirty years, I know how important it is to have someone fighting our corner.

Full statement

Local people are fed up with governments and a council which takes them for granted. As a councillor in the area for many years, I have fought hard for many improvements to ensure the area is well served – from new crossings and other road safety schemes to make our streets safer, to a new library and new Welsh medium schools.

All too often I have seen local Labour representatives who have failed to listen and act on concerns from the community. Far too many people tell me they don’t think Labour is really listening to them on issues like tackling the increasing congestion we’re seeing on Cardiff’s roads, addressing cuts to local bus services or fighting to secure the re-opening of Pentwyn Leisure Centre. They despair at the quality of some of our local services like waste collections and the threat to reduce the frequency of black bin collections, while repeatedly being asked to pay more and more in council tax.

All too often I note that our current Labour MP and MS are silent on such concerns, so we really do need a local champion who will be more vocal and who will put this area first. That’s what I’d want to do if given the chance to serve as the area’s MP.