Montgomeryshire Day at Parliament

A Montgomeryshire Day has been held at the House of Commons, organised by MP Craig Williams and jointly host with the Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW).

The celebration of all things Montgomeryshire enabled Parliamentarians to sample some of our finest produce and learn more about our businesses and organisations.

Joining teams from both the Montgomeryshire and national offices of the FUW were representatives from Montgomery YFC; British Wool Marketing Board; Cakes and Bakes; Graig Farm Organics; Vintage Land Rover Tours; Get Jerky; LunchLocker and Mid Wales Tourism.

Montgomeryshire Day, held in the Jubilee Room at the Palace of Westminster, was attended by hundreds of visitors, including several UK Government Ministers. The event was preceded by a reception held the night before at the Wales Office.

Among the many guests there were the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Steve Barclay MP, Minister for Farming Mark Harper MP, and Wales Office Minister Fay Jones MP.

During the event, FUW President Ian Rickman, County Chairman Iwan Pughe Jones and Montgomery YFC County Chairman Alun Tudor-Thomas met with the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, to highlight the concerns farmers have in Wales.

“It has always been a great honour for me to represent my home constituency as its Member of Parliament,” said Mr Williams.

“I was therefore absolutely delighted to host Montgomeryshire Day within Parliament last week, demonstrating the sheer quality and diversity of Montgomeryshire’s produce, producers and organisations.

“It was fantastic to be able to showcase Montgomeryshire to my colleagues within Westminster who attended, including to the Prime Minister and several Government Cabinet Members and Ministers.

“Both Montgomeryshire Day and the reception at the Wales Office were huge successes, raising the profile of Montgomeryshire’s people and its produce and giving the organisations who attended the chance to make new connections from across the UK.

“It was also great to be able to facilitate crucial discussions between FUW and Montgomery YFC members with the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for DEFRA, highlighting the importance of farming to the rural economy within Montgomeryshire, Wales and the UK.

“I would like to pay tribute to everyone who was involved with Montgomeryshire Day, including to UK Hospitality for their support, and especially to everyone who had travelled down to London. Finally, a huge thank you to the FUW and in particular the staff within their Montgomeryshire office, who played a massive role in putting the event together.”

FUW Montgomeryshire CEO, Emyr Wyn Davies added: “Montgomeryshire Day provided an excellent opportunity to showcase our agricultural and rural talents in the House of Commons, whilst also showing those MPs not representing a Welsh constituency what we have to offer.

“As a Union we know that family farms in particular are at the heart of our rural economy, caring for our landscapes and of course our culture and they make innumerable other contributions to the well-being of Wales and the UK. That was clearly visible at Montgomeryshire Day and members across the Union will be pleased to know that their Union stressed the importance of a thriving, sustainable, farming sector in Wales with everyone they spoke to during the course of the event.”

Montgomery YFC County Chairman, Alun Tudor-Thomas, said: “It was an absolute privilege to be given the opportunity to attend Montgomeryshire Day. On behalf of Montgomery YFC I would like to thank Craig for helping to organise the trip and for inviting me to meet the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak. It was an experience of a lifetime.”