General Election 24: Glyn Preston

We caught up with Liberal Democrat candidate, Glyn Preston, who is seeking your votes in the upcoming general election.

Why should voters support you and the Liberal Democrats?

I am delighted to be the Liberal Democrats choice to be the new MP for Montgomeryshire. I was born and raised here and I live in Llanidloes, where I have had the privilege of being elected as a local county councillor.

Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr has been left without a strong local representative for far too long and I want to follow in the footsteps of this constituency's long Liberal history when we had hard working local MPs like Alex Carlile and Emlyn Hooson.

Our constituency has been let down by both the major parties. The Conservatives have been involved in constant sleaze and scandal, meanwhile the Welsh Labour Government in Cardiff Bay doesn’t understand Mid or North Wales and neglects rural communities.

We have seen them trigger massive farming protests just this year, they have cut rural bus routes and are planning to cut services on the Cambrian Line. Meanwhile Labour’s mismanagement of the Welsh NHS has left Wales with the longest waiting times in the UK.  

The Liberal Democrats understand rural communities, it's where our roots are and I deal with them every single day as a councillor in Llanidloes.

The Liberal Democrats have a comprehensive plan to stand up for our rural communities. We will increase funding to restore rural bus routes, we will boost the Welsh agriculture budget by £50 million each year, we will negotiate botched trade deals and increase gigabit broadband coverage to all areas so our towns and villages can take advantage of shifting work patterns.

We will also fix our NHS. We are the only major party talking about social care, which is a massive issue here. In Powys alone 37% of the council’s budget is spent on social care and crumbling services means patients cannot be discharged from A&E into the community. Our plans would see £200 million a year going into fixing the social care system in Wales.

Likewise, our plans for a rural GP premium would allow us to attract and maintain more GPs in our area making it easier for people to get appointments and further reducing the pressure on A&E departments. I’d also work closely with Liberal Democrat Helen Morgan if she is re-elected across the border in Shropshire to continue her work in holding Shrewsbury and Telford hospital to account for its massive failings.

I am asking you to place your trust in me on July 4th and vote for someone who is already tried, tested and trusted as a local representative and I promise you I will work extremely hard to restore integrity to our politics and a strong local voice for our communities in London.   

The candidates in the running for your votes in Montgomeryshire & Glyndwr are:

• Jeremy Brignell-Thorp (Green Party)
• Oliver Lewis (Reform UK)
• Glyn Preston (Liberal Democrat)
• Elwyn Vaughan (Plaid Cymru)
• Craig Williams (TBC)
• Steve Witherden (Labour)