Today, Welsh Labour have confirmed I am a candidate for the newly created Brycheiniog Tawe Nedd constituency. It has been a great privilege to have represented Neath in the Senedd since 2016, helping and supporting thousands of constituents.
Over the last 9 years during my time as Counsel General, Brexit Minister, Minister for Education, Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Energy and the Welsh Language and most recently Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care. I have been proud to be able to draw on the experience and support of local members and constituents in shaping our priorities for Wales.
I am particularly proud of taking through the legislation which brought in votes at 16 for Senedd elections, taking the Tory government to court for their assault on devolution, increasing Education Maintenance Allowance to support young people to stay on in education, introduced rules for cheaper school uniforms and the Schools Essential Grant to help with basic costs and brining in free school meals for all primary school children. Within my constituency, I successfully pressed Welsh Government for a commitment of £50 million to set up the Global Centre of Rail Excellence in Onllwyn. I’ve run campaigns to help support mental health, and clamp down on underage vaping.
As you may have seen in the media this weekend I have put together a plan for the NHS to reduce the waiting list by 200,000, eliminate two year waits, restore a maximum wait for test results and tackle the 700,000 appointments, missed or cancelled by patients, each year.
We’ll shortly be creating a campaign grid for the next 12 months and if you are able to support this by canvassing, leafletting or sharing my social media posts, please get in touch.
I’ll close by saying that my priorities have not and will not change. I will continue to campaign for a country where everyone feels they belong, for a prosperous economy, where every child has an opportunity to succeed, for decent well paid jobs, for well-funded effective public services, for a respectful partnership with local government and for leadership in tackling the climate emergency.
