14 March 2008

Dylan Jones Welsh Conservative for the Cadnant Seat

Election fever starting already!

If you don't know it by now, then you must have been away for the last few weeks....In May we are having our Local Government Elections and things seem to be hotting up on nearly all the wards. Plaid are certainly going to be up against it this time round as they try to convince the electorate that Gwynedd is in good hands. Already we have seen a deluge of Llais Gwynedd Candidates trying for Plaid Seats and the schools issue may yet prove to be a decisive one.

The Menai Ward will be up for grabs this time round with Richard Morris Jones no longer a Plaid Candidate (now Independent) up against his former Plaid collegue Ioan Thomas and a brand new Independent candidate who goes by the name of Richard Bonner Pritchard (sounds familiar?) He is none other than the son of Caernarfon's first lady Mayor Mrs Mary Bonner Pritchard. Where that seat will end is anyone's business and it will be a very interesting and hard fought contest.

The Seiont ward is a very strong Independent seat but the second seat may be a hard fight between Labour and Plaid. Labour is not a strong voice on the ward. The last election saw the second seat go to Labour's Gerald Parry who was popular following the Ferodo saga. Time will tell whether he has done enough to keep hold of his seat or if Plaid Cymru have enough to sneak in. The word on the street is that the seats will remain the same. Plaid have their work cut out.

As yet we are unsure if Plaid Cymru's Tudor Owen has an election on his hands. There is talk of one or two interested in giving him a fight, but no official confirmation to date.

The Cadnant ward was an Independent ward for many years with Mair Ellis ruling the roost by quite a margin. Huw Edwards came close once but Mair still held on.
Last time out Huw won on a very low turn out in the By-election (following the death of Councillor Ellis). This ward will prove an interesting one as it has not yet been confirmed if Tecwyn Thomas (Labour) will again stand on the ward, even though he has a Town Council seat on Seiont (He came a close second in the By-election and must fancy his chances this time round).

But low and behold we hear of yet another new candidate on this ward and he is a Welsh Conservative and young! Caernarfon Online spoke to him this week and this is what he had to say.

"My name is Dylan Jones I am 28 years of age and from Caernarfon. I am standing as the Welsh Conservative candidate for the Cadnant Ward in Caernarfon. I will be making history as the first Conservative to stand in a local election in Caernarfon. I also have colleagues standing in Pwllheli and Trawsfynydd.
 
I have decided to stand because I am fed up with the Plaid Cymru clique with their "Fortress Gwynedd" policy who are strangling the life out of my native town. They have all been around for many years and nothing seems to change. There are no young people on the council and I think this needs to change. Plaid are taking Gwynedd for granted. In the 2004 local elections an amazing 36 councillors were elected unopposed in Gwynedd!This cannot be good for democracy, these councillors need to fight for their seats!
 
My main issue is the environment, not carbon offsetting or the Kyoto protocol but an issue that affects us all, this is recycling and bin collections. They have introduced fortnightly collections in Dwyfor and I'm sure Arfon will have to follow suit after the election. I am against this as I believe the councils are doing it not to increase recycling but to save money. Most families already recycle what they can and I'm sure this will lead to an increase in fly-tipping and backyard burning. Also on my agenda is keeping our streets clean, Gwynedd council already have powers to fine people who litter but they prefer to employ armies of traffic wardens to persecute motorists.
 
Gwynedd has been for a long time a Plaid Cymru heartland but I feel that they are now showing their true colours in government and people need an alternative choice in local government. This cannot be the new party Llais Gwynedd who are essentially Plaid in different clothes, or as I prefer to call them Diet Plaid "

Caernarfon Online would like to wish all the candidates the best of luck, and at the same time hope the  town council elections will at long last rid us of the dead wood there and bring in some fresh young faces.

We will be watching and as the saying goes "The decision is yours!"