Opinion: my immediate priorities for the Newtown area

These past two months since being elected the Member of Parliament for Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr have been quite eventful.

In my first column for All About Newtown, I would like to recount a few highlights since my election, as well as my immediate priorities for the Newtown area and the wider constituency. 

The main highlight, of course, was winning the election on July the 4th. Being elected is a great honour for anybody. It is an even greater honour to represent your home in Parliament and give it a voice on a national scale. When exit polls gave us a 3% chance of victory here, to win in what pundits were calling ‘the only safe Tory seat in Wales’ and with a bigger majority than six other Welsh MPs was an amazing achievement by my very dedicated team.

I will never take for granted the trust that the people of our constituency have put in me. I have already started work on delivering the changes we desperately need – the highlight so far being voting in the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill 2024-25, which will bring our trains back under public control.

Growing up in rural eastern Wales, I know first-hand how difficult it can be to get from A to B while being dependent on public transport. Privatisation has not improved the railways, and reliable integrated transport is sorely needed here, as we are so reliant on cross-border services. I was also honoured to enrol on the first ever NFU Food and Farming Fellowship Scheme. Farming is essential to our local economy and I will continue to work closely with the farming community.

This year has brought some incredible highs and some terrible lows. The week after the election, my mother passed away. I dedicated my maiden speech to her, and I thank everyone for the kindness and support I have received since. This upsetting event saw me sworn in later than other MPs and I have received so many heartfelt condolences and kind messages of sympathy, from constituents and colleagues alike. It has been overwhelming, but I am grateful for all of them.

The inbox is already bursting at the seams, and we are hitting the ground running.

It was disappointing my respectful request that the consultation process regarding the closure of Ysgol Treowen be extended was not honoured.

After being paused because of the General Election, the closure was announced before I had been sworn in as MP. I am sure this was bitterly disappointing for the people of Newtown too. I believe that questions still need to be answered in relation to how provisions for families and children in the east of Newtown will be met.

Opposing the recently launched proposal to downgrade Llanidloes Hospital is another immediate priority. We already have enough people having to leave the constituency to access hospital care and so the prospect of downgrading one of our hospitals is something we should all be standing against.

One of my main pledges was to help find ways to revitalise our town centres and local economy. I will soon begin looking to build a constituency cabinet comprised of local businesses, colleges, unions, young people, charities and other voluntary organisations to bring together collective expertise and give us a strengthened voice in Parliament.

Finally, we are looking into options for establishing offices in the constituency. Further information will of course be widely shared once plans are finalised, but until then, please do not hesitate to get in touch via my email address steve.witherden.mp@parliament.uk, and keep up to date with my activities on my website, www.stevewitherden.wales.

Steve Witherden MP
Member of Parliament for Montgomeryshire & Glyndŵr