Aberdare-born Dr Dafydd Trystan Davies has been selected by Plaid Cymru as the party’s candidate for Cynon Valley in National Assembly election.
Dr Davies, who was the Plaid candidate at the General Election, said he was delighted to be able to stand again for his home area.
“I am very pleased that Plaid Cymru members have put their faith in me and am confident we can build on our strong showing in the General Election when we received more than 6,000 votes and demonstrated clearly that only Plaid can challenge Labour in the Cynon Valley.
“There was an 9% swing to us from Labour and the lowest Labour majority in Cynon Valley since women were entitled to vote.
“I have been quite surprised by the statements of some leading Labour politicians since the election. They make great play of opposing Tory-LibDem cuts but fail to mention it was their party that caused the crisis in the first place and, had Labour been returned, we would have been faced with equally savage cuts and an increase in VAT.
“We should also remember that the gap between rich and poor actually increased with Labour in government and that the Labour Party has kept the Valleys down for far too long.”
Dr Davies said he looked forward to the campaign and would be very pleased to take part in hustings with other candidates.
“In this Welsh General Election, I hope people will support a Party that will put Wales first, and a candidate that will put the Cynon Valley first,” he said,
He said that during his parliamentary campaign he had campaigned on a number of local issues, for example opposing the Enviroparks development in Hirwaun, safeguarding Welsh-medium education in planned changes to sixth-forms, reopening Valleys tunnels and improving the Taff Trail for cyclists and walkers.
“I intend to pursue these and other issues over the next few months as the Assembly candidate,” he said. “The Valley has been let down badly by Labour over a great many years and the time has come for a fresh start.”
• A former university lecturer and Chief Executive of Plaid Cymru, Dr Davies is now development manager for Welsh-medium higher education throughout Wales and was a regular broadcaster on TV and radio during the General Election campaign.
He is married to Lisa Turnbull, who comes from Milton Keynes and who is a researcher in health policy.