Political parties announce their pledges for the May elections
FOUR political parties have announced their Waleswide key pledges for the council elections taking place on May 4 – but the biggest party, Labour, has not issued a nationwide manifesto.
The Welsh Conservatives, who are fighting 630 of the 1,254 seats, have six main pledges:
Honour local armed forces heroes; Support local businesses; Deliver value for money, including fairer council tax bills; Protect the environment; Support future generations; Safeguard services for those in need.
Leader of the Welsh Conservatives Andrew RT Davies said: “The Labour Party can no longer claim to represent local communities. Their plans to force councils across Wales to merge would have taken power away from local people and wiped many areas off the map – areas like Monmouthshire, the Vale of Glamorgan and Conwy.
“Councils play a hugely important role in shaping the vital public services in your community, but they must be accountable and open to the people they serve.
“We want to see policies developed locally and decisions taken as close as possible to you and your community. You only have to look to Monmouthshire council to see how effective Welsh Conservative policies can be in delivering for local communities.”
Key pledges from Plaid Cymru, which is fielding 577 candidates, include:
Spreading the country;
Cutting down on senior council staff pay and boosting ordinary workers’ wages;
Creating local jobs and apprenticeships;
Regenerating town centres and cleaning up communities;
Providing every child with a highquality education;
Creating affordable housing and opposing local development plans that are bad for communities; Protecting local services. Party leader Leanne Wood said: “Plaid Cymru’s manifesto for the local elections is an ambitious programme for strengthening our communities by caring for our people and defending prosperity throughout our children’s future.
“We have a strong track record of delivering for people in their local area. In Ceredigion, Plaid Cymru leads Wales in spending per pupil. In Gwynedd, we have protected 1,400 households from the Tory bedroom tax. In Plaid-led councils, top manager pay is on average 22% lower than Labour-led councils.”
Plaid currently leads in Gwynedd, Ceredigion, Carmarthenshire and Conwy, and hopes to win power in Caerphilly and Rhondda Cynon Taf and potentially be in a coalition running Cardiff.
The Welsh Liberal Democrats have 280 candidates across Wales. Their key policy priorities include:
Regenerating local economies by enabling small businesses to shape and lead their own priorities, and taking steps to incentivise footfalls in town centres;
Investing in schools to give every child the best possible start in life by creating an education system that is a source of national pride;
Bringing Wales’ infrastructure into the 21st century, including delivering superfast broadband and 4G mobile phone signal to all small businesses and households, as well as supporting plans for the South Wales and North Wales Metro projects, and the timely electrification of the South Wales and