The constituency of Cardiff South and Penarth will be an important seat to win in next year’s Assembly elections.
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Though traditionally a Labour stronghold, the fate of one of Welsh politics’ rising stars rests on the outcome of the seat.
Labour’s Vaughan Gething will face off against Plaid’s Liz Musa, the Conservatives’ Ben Gray and the Lideral Democrats’ Sian Anne Cliff in the election in May.
Labour candidate Vaughan Gething
Gething, previously a president of the Trades Union Congress in Wales, is a trade union lawyer from Thompsons solicitors. He was a councillor in the Butetown ward of the constituency before losing his seat in the last local elections. Observers will be watching closely to see Labour’s results in the area.
Gething started off his political career as the President of the National Union of Students in Wales. He then became an active trade unionist with GMB and UNITE, and was the Welsh TUC’s first black President. Also in his impressive political CV is chairmanship of the Right to Vote campaign, which sought to engage black and ethnic minority voters in Welsh political life, and a stint as the current AM’s research and press officer.
I spoke with him as he was delivering leaflets in St Mellons introducing himself to voters. He says voters in the area are angry at Lib Dem broken promises over tuition fees and a controversial plan to build over the Rumney Rec green space in Llanrumney. He has also argued for the need for more social housing.
His leaflets say ‘Only Labour can beat the Tories here’, with the area’s MP Alun Michael saying ‘a vote for the Liberal Democrats or Plaid Cymru in Cardiff South and Penarth is a vote for the Tories.’
Listen to my interview with Vaughan here:
Vaughan Gething interview by neilpooran
He said: “I wanted to be a Labour member for a few years now…. I thought our country could and should be a better place. It was social justice, I wanted to see a fairer and better community and country.” He also spoke of the contribution devolution had made to Wales over the past 12 years.
He remembers Conservatve candidate Ben Gray from his days in the NUS, where Gray was also active. Gray is now a Student Liason Officer at the University of Wales, and there is a great podcast from the University on his background here.
The Liberal Democrats have come under increased scrutiny recently, with the vote in Westminster on tuition fees proving bitterly divisive.
The Lib Dems’ candidate in Cardiff South and Penarth is Sian Anne Cliff, a keen local campaigner. Sian works in the Welsh Assembly as a researcher for the Lib Dems, and living in Splott means like Vaughan she stays inside the constituency.
I caught up with Sian as she was leafletting in the upmarket Cardiff Bay area around the Assembly. She’s been delivering letters asking residents to take part in BT’s ‘Race to Infinity’ competition, where if enough residents write to BT their phone exchange will be upgraded to one ready for ‘superfast’ broadband.
Sian said: “I think it will be a difficult campaign for every political party. It has been a tough economic time recently, and everyone is feeling the effects of it. But I do think that we are making positive differences in government in the UK at the moment, and we need to get that message out to people about the effects we are having and the positve changes we are making to people’s lives here in Wales.”
Results from 2007:
| Name | Party | Votes | % | +/- % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lorraine Barrett | LAB | 10,106 | 37.8 | -6.6 |
| Karen Robson | CON | 7,352 | 27.5 | +1.8 |
| Dominic Hannigan | LD | 5,445 | 20.4 | +5.3 |
| Jason Toby | PC | 3,825 | 14.3 | +2.2 |
| Majority | 2,754 | 10.3 | ||
| Turnout | 26,728 | 37.5 | +5.7 | |
Source: BBC
The sitting AM, Lorraine Barret, is standing down from politics to become a secular celebrant. She enjoys a generally good reputation in the constituency, and her successor will have big boots to fill.
With such a large and diverse constituency of around 70,000 people, the campaign will likely be a gruelling one for all involved next year.
