COLUMN: Labour claims ‘change is coming’

In article provided to us by The Labour Party as their monthly column, it looks like we could be in for an interesting next General Election for our new-look constituency.

“We are Montgomeryshire no more! 

Its “all change” at the next General Election when our constituency will become Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr.

Our already large electoral territory gets even larger and will stretch from Llangurig and Llanidloes in the South to Rhosllanerchrugog and Penycae in the North.

It could also well be “all change” in which political party represents us.

If effect, part of Clwyd South Constituency joins Montgomeryshire to form our new electoral borders. The local Labour organisations have already started meeting together to ensure this happens smoothly.

The big change for Welsh Labour here is not just the geography but the potential for winning the new seat for Labour at the next General Election. 

We Really Need a Change

The Office of Budget Responsibility tells us that we are experiencing “the biggest fall in living standards” since records began and the biggest drop in household income on record. 

Probably, you are in the large majority who are struggling to put food on the table, pay for energy and keep up with housing costs. So, you don’t need to be told about it because t’s your everyday experience.

At the same time as we struggle, a small number of individuals and companies are getting extremely rich at our expense, using VIP lanes for government contracts, and creaming off huge profits without proper taxation. 

A recent poll says you want change too. These were the verdicts when people were asked how well/badly the UK Government was doing on whole areas of our lives they govern:

·      Crime: 22% well, 68% badly

·      Welfare benefits: 23% well, 58% badly

·      The economy: 17% well, 77% badly

·      Unemployment: 36% well, 48% badly

·      Environment: 27% well, 63% badly

·      Britain’s exit from the EU: 24% well, 64% badly

·      Immigration: 10% well, 82% badly

·      Taxation: 21% well, 68% badly

·      Inflation: 14% well, 79% badly

Keeping an Eye on the Figures

“We have been keeping a close eye on one website in particular for some time,” says the constituency secretary, Kait Duerden.

“That website is Electoral Calculus (https://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk) which brings together all the polls from different companies and creates a view of what the likely outcome of the next election will be.

“All the predictions are currently for a Labour win in the new constituency. This poll of polls is currently giving Labour a 70% chance of winning the Constituency.

“This is a significant change and a new Labour MP here would be the first one ever to represent Montgomeryshire. Clwyd South has returned a Labour MP to Parliament before, and it is the combination of this support and a growing Labour vote in Montgomeryshire which seems likely to make all the difference in the General Election. 

Working Hard to Make Change Happen

“We know that polls change and that everything takes hard work to achieve,” said Simon Davies, Constituency Chair, “But we are prepared to put in the hard work to bring about the change we need in this area.”

We are looking forward to the future.

PICTURES:

-       Photograph of Montgomeryshire CLP meeting colleagues from Clwyd South

-       August Predictions from Electoral Calculus

-       Map of the new Constituency of Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr