Green Party Members have selected Tomos Barlow as their lead candidate for Bangor Conwy Môn for the upcoming 2026 Senedd Election.

Full statement

The 24-year-old who grew up on the island comments:

“I’m honoured to have been selected as the lead candidate for Bangor Conwy Môn for Wales Green Party. We’re entering a new era of politics where people are realising that the political systems no longer work for them. Instead of fighting for a positive change, we’ve seen the main establishment parties abandon their principles and the people who elect them for millionaires and billionaires.

People are sick of the decline of our communities are facing with many young people having to leave to find a life and work elsewhere. My family have lived in the area for generations, and I want to fight to make sure that young people like me can make a life here.”

Explaining his vision and priorities for Bangor Conwy Môn, he states:

“Job insecurity and job availability are two of the major concerns for me as a Green. Alongside the nature and climate crisis we’re seeing opportunities for communities to become involved and jobs in the renewable sector could have been made by now. Instead, we have seen the push for an economic model which serves the billionaires based around big businesses who have no interest in the wellbeing of our communities.

We’ve seen the abandonment of small businesses to serve the large ones, which have destroyed high streets like Bangor and Holyhead. We’ve seen community hubs in small communities such as rural schools shut because no effort has been made to invest and save them. In the pursuit of the grossly unfair and unbalanced economic structure, farmers and hospitality have been exploited and stretched to the bone, growing, and making food, or serving holidaymakers at unsustainable rates for pennies when all the benefits and rewards simply don’t stay in the area.

The economic strategy we’ve had over the past 40 to 50 years has actively harmed us, not helped us, and the Green Party’s vision for this area and my vision align with actively reversing that to make our area so that our communities are listened to again”

As a young person who grew up in the area, he understands the importance of tackling inequality while also fixing the issues that persist in our society:

“The loss of green spaces, the loss of community amenities and education, the rise in child poverty, the lack of high paying jobs and the high rates of fuel poverty, these aren’t issues caused by migrants, environmental actions or simply respecting people from all backgrounds and taking action to make sure everyone is treated fairly and equally. They’re all caused by lack of investment, action to redistribute wealth and a whole lack of focus on other forms of wellbeing.

The Future Generations act has been around for years, but no meaningful actions have been taken by all levels of governments to resolve it. Inequality within Wales in rampant geographically with our area being one of the worst affected and we need some form of strategy to tackle it. The Welsh government has been dragging its heels to bring in meaningful legislation and action to do this, at a time when we need the legislation, we now need to have the teeth to tackle today’s problems.

We’re at a crucial point in politics where people are asking for change and action and we need to be tackling these issues at their core. If the UK government get in our way and try to route funding away from Wales, like they did with HS2 and now with the Cambridge line, then we should be given the right to choose our own path as a nation to be able to take these actions.”

Commenting on the selection, Wales Green Party Leader Anthony Slaughter states:

“Tomos has been a long-standing activist and a hard-working individual within the party. I know he will stand up for Bangor Conwy Môn and its interests. He’ll be an excellent candidate who will speak up on your behalf and the country’s behalf. “