For 14 years, almost everything in our country has gone backwards.

Full statement

Waiting lists are at record highs. So is the tax burden. Crime, child poverty, and homelessness are all rising. We have become less prosperous compared to other major economies. Court backlogs and a lack of investment in prisons means our justice system is on its knees. The same is true for most public services, not least our buckling National Health Service.

Five Tory prime ministers have given us austerity, a cost-of-living crisis, a stagnant economy, and international isolation. They are not a serious party of government and we cannot risk another five years of Tory chaos.

My whole life is in this constituency. I teach its amazingly bright and talented children and raise my own in Acrefair. We have so much going for us, whether it is Ruabon’s proud industrial heritage, the grandeur of Powis and Chirk castles, Machynlleth’s art, festivals, and culture, or Rhosllanerchrugog’s strong vibrant Welsh community.

This election will be the first contested under new constituency boundaries, which have completely changed the political landscape here. The Liberal Democrats may in the past have been the traditional alternative to the Tories in Montgomeryshire, but with the addition of 13 Labour-voting wards in the north of our new constituency, on top of their plummeting vote share since 2010, this is simply no longer the case – a vote for them is now a vote to let the Tories sneak back in.

Montgomeryshire & Glyndŵr deserves so much better. Tory economic incompetence has decimated public finances and our local economies. Mid Wales has lost its Air Ambulance base. Welshpool had no banking access whatsoever for a whole year. There is still no health hub in Newtown.

For a region so dependent on reliable transport links, this Tory decline has hit us particularly hard. Rural bus services have halved in the past decade and a half. For Llanidloes, the only large town in Montgomeryshire without a train station, this causes pointless delays with the bus to Caersws missing connecting trains by minutes.

I am unashamedly proud of our farmers, who do so much for our local economy. Here again, Tory incompetence has hit us where it hurts, with Boris Johnson’s disastrous trade deal with Australia selling out the farming community. His successor as prime minister, Liz Truss, said he had “conceded the whole kingdom” with the deal. We welcome the news that rural voters are increasingly considering voting Labour. We will not take your support for granted and will support Welsh farmers by reducing the reliance on imported food and by cutting red tape at the border.

Labour has brought Britain back from the brink before. We will do so again. With Labour governments in Westminster, Cardiff Bay, and with a Labour MP in Montgomeryshire & Glyndŵr, we will work together to bring about a decade of renewal.

I will be a loud voice in Westminster for properly funding public services, most importantly our NHS. I will support restrictions on shameful corporate lobbying and back Labour’s plans to abolish the House of Lords. As a trade unionist since age 19 and current executive member of my trade union, I will back public sector workers to the hilt and stand up for workers’ rights. I fully support the creation of Great British Energy and the nationalisation of our railways, which I will leverage to bring cheap, clean energy and more reliable train services into our communities. I will call for an ambitious Green New Deal and make sure we protect our party democracy. I will work with MPs of any stripe in Dwyfor Meirionnydd, Radnorshire, Wrexham, Shropshire and Ludlow to keep our communities connected and drive the growth of our local economies.

Polls are showing a very close race between Labour and the Tories. If you are a Lib Dem, Plaid, or Green voter, we need you to lend us your vote so we can send a clear message to Rishi Sunak, who’s parliamentary private secretary is our very own Tory MP Craig Williams. He and his colleagues have taken rural, traditional areas like ours for granted. 14 years later and we desperately need change. A vote for Labour is a vote for that change.

From Rhos and Ruabon to Llanfyllin and Llangurig, in Chirk, Cefn, Welshpool, Machynlleth, and everywhere inbetween, I will be an MP for all of Montgomeryshire & Glyndŵr. I will fight tirelessly to secure our place in a more prosperous, safer, and greener Wales.