Election special - Llandeilo to Llansteffan

 Llandeilo

Four candidates are contesting this ward, including Dai Williams for Plaid, Anthony Frost, chairman of the Conservative Constituency Association,  and two Independents. The previous Independent councillor is stepping down.

Whoever wins in Llandeilo will have to tackle the fallout from the recent bitterly contested supermarket planning battle which has just ended in victory for Sainsbury's, the thorny question over the plans for a new secondary school and the problem of poor air quality caused by traffic congestion.

Dai Williams is a former headteacher who also runs a business, and one of Plaid's strongest candidates.

Carmarthen East and Dinefwr Conservative Association has not got round to publishing details of its candidates on-line or gone to the bother of producing a manifesto for the county. Size matters in politics, however, and Mr Frost and his association boast a great deal about, well, not very much. According to the association's website, they have succeeded in turning Carmarthen East and Dinefwr into a marginal constituency (they came a very distant third in both the last general election and the Welsh Assembly election).

In 2010 the association issued a press release after the Cenarth by-election.

'The Conservative candidate nearly caused a sensation by taking the seat' , it screamed.

The result? Plaid Cymru 638, Conservatives 141.


Cneifiwr wishes Mr Frost a similar degree of success in Llandeilo.

Llandovery

This one has to be in the top five of contests to watch, as Ivor Jackson (Independent) seeks to fend of an assault from Plaid's Pat Racher, Gill Wright (an independent independent) and Andrew Morgan.

As noted in a previous post, Pat is would make a very good councillor, with experience which is directly relevant to this rural area.

Andrew Morgan is a Llanelli man who previously contested the Carmarthen East and Dinefwr seat in the 2010 election. Having played his part as an investment banker in wrecking the global economy, he now wishes to turn his attention to Llandovery. What Llandovery has done to deserve this, I don't know.

Llandybie

Another two-member ward, this time being contested by three independents, and one candidate each for Plaid, the Tories and Labour. Once again, the previous Independent councillor is stepping down.

Anthony Jones is hoping to be returned for Labour. He is involved in running the village's Miners Welfare Club, and it was in that capacity that he recently launched a passionate plea for something to be done about alcohol abuse. One of the main culprits, he said, was alcopops.

Older readers may dimly remember alcopops, although nowadays, as Cneifiwr knows, the "youngsters" prefer things like Sambucca and Skittle Bombs.

A check on the club's upcoming gigs shows that there is nothing planned currently, but Showaddywaddy may be available.

Llansteffan

The ward was contested by 4 candidates in 2008, with veteran Independent Daff Davies taking it. This time it is a two horse race, with Daff facing stiff competition from Carys Jones. Carys conducts the Llansteffan Male Voice Choir, which reminds me that Con Passionate was set somewhere not a million miles from Llansteffan.

For anyone not familiar with life in this part of the world, this clip shows a fairly average Saturday night (including a useful tip on alternative uses for Bruce, the monster dictionary):