We caught up with Reform UK candidate, Oliver Lewis, who is seeking your votes in the upcoming general election.

Why should voters support you and Reform UK?

I am thankful to All About Newtown for the opportunity to explain my candidacy and my campaign to be Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr’s next Member of Parliament. Local media outlets are at the heart of local civic debate and political exchange – without them, the democratic process cannot function properly. It is important everyone engaged in politics supports them. 

As your Reform candidate my objective is to stand in total contrast to the contestants from the five historic parties, four of which (Labour, Conservative, the Liberal Democrats and Plaid Cymru) have, in some way, participated in the government of our country since 1997. Reform is a new political party determined to demonstrate that there is now an alternative to the old parties. The condition of this country is clear for everyone to see – public services are in perpetual ‘limp’ mode; and our civic and transport infrastructure is appalling, particularly here in Mid-Wales. To make matters even worse, our borders are unchecked and not properly controlled. Our country is a more dangerous place as a result. This is the legacy of decades of failure from the old parties. 

Reform is committed to transforming the standard of government in this country. It will provide clear standards for our public services to meet, and invest in infrastructure to ensure the vast gap in the standard of living between London and the rest of the country is bridged. The Conservatives promised ‘levelling-up’ for Mid-Wales; all I can see is their restoration of a Georgian-era canal. This is unlikely to be a game-changer for our standard of living here in Montgomeryshire. 

Instead, our county needs an upgraded trunk road connection to Shrewsbury, achieved by dualling the Shrewsbury-Newtown road, and a major health services upgrade. A safer, faster road connection will mean accessing Shrewsbury and Telford hospitals’ specialist services becomes much easier. Our railway service is beyond appalling; Reform wishes to see the stations at Montgomery and Carno re-opened to passenger traffic, and for the line to be electrified from Wolverhampton all the way to Aberystwyth. Services will run half-hourly and provide a level of reliability we can only dream of at present. 

Reform objects not to the principle of immigration, only to its scale. The number of people immigrated to the UK has placed enormous pressure on our public services, which are stretching their facilities (fixed in the short term) to their maximum capacity and above it. Very little thought was given by Labour and the Conservatives when they embarked on mass immigration; neither is interested in fixing the many problems it has created. Reform will reduce net legal immigration, and apply zero tolerance to illegal immigration too. 

In terms of political modernisation, Reform will restructure local government across England and Wales to reduce bureaucracy and cut council tax; we also commit to abolition of the House of Lords and its replacement with an elected Senate; and the introduction of Proportional Representation for elections to the UK Parliament. British politics and government needs to attract ordinary, sensible citizens who are in politics for the right reasons; not for the salary, the expenses, or the connections politicians can make for their business interests. 

Reform recognises that the economy prospers when each individual citizen prospers. Our main economic policy is thus to increase the personal allowance to £20,000 – lifting millions of people out of income tax – and implementing drastic simplification of the tax code. Reform advocates for a style of government that is transformative and visionary – but achieved with fewer people, and requiring fewer of Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr’s hard-earned pounds! It is only with a total re-set of the institutions of this country that we will achieve the change we all want to see. 

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 (Conservative)
• Steve Witherden (Labour)