MONMOUTHSHIRE will go to the polls on 12th December after a General Election was called by Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Ahead of the election, the Beacon asked all Monmouth candidates a set of questions.

Who are you?

I grew up in the North East of England and the Midlands and I am the youngest of six children of Irish parents. My maternal grandparents left their home with what they could carry in suitcases to start life again in Britain and give those of their ten children still living at home, and their future grandchildren, a better chance in life. I attended a state comprehensive led by a visionary head teacher and as a direct result went on to read drama at Manchester University, train as an actor at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and then as a teacher of English and drama at UCL in London.

I have now been a freelance director/producer and consultant working across Wales, the UK and internationally for almost three decades.

In 2005 I returned to Wales from London with my husband to live in Penarth and raise our three children. 

Why should people vote for you on 12th December?

I believe our country needs to be brought back together after years of austerity followed by over three years of disharmony and divisive debate and discord.

There are currently record levels of child poverty in our country. Homelessness figures have doubled. Food banks have become the norm. I believe, in one of the richest countries in the world, every citizen should have food, clothes and shelter.

I believe we must begin to think about the future generations and their well-being. We must decide together what kind of world and society we want for those future generations.

Only a Labour Government will end child poverty, confront the moral disgrace of homelessness. Transform our economy to end insecure work – raise wages – and create good new jobs across the country. Only a Labour government will tackle the climate emergency so we can look the next generation in the eye and say ‘we did not let you down.

If elected what would be your first priority?

My top five priorities in order are:

•The climate emergency

•Ending poverty in this constituency, in Wales and Britain

•Ending austerity and investing in public services

•Job security, job creation and fair pay and working conditions

•Tourism, growth and investment in the area

What should we be doing to deal with climate change?

This affects us all and has to be our top priority. We have to think differently about how we live, work and prosper. It will mean many changes and investment on a huge scale. We need public investment in renewable energy and green technology. Labour will create hundreds of thousands of highly-skilled, high-wage unionised jobs as we triple solar power generation, double on-shore wind generation and bring about a seven-fold increase in off-shore wind projects.

Environmental groups including Greenpeace, WWF, and Friends of the Earth have all said that Tory climate targets are too late to save the planet from ecological collapse.

This week the UN said we have just one decade to bring down our greenhouse gas emissions. That is 2030.

Labour’s manifesto pledge is to achieve the substantial majority of emission reductions by 2030.

How do you think Brexit will affect the day-to-day lives of people in the constituency?

The ramifications of a hard Brexit, which is a real threat under a future Conservative government, would have serious negative impacts on this constituency. The main export destinations for Welsh farmers are Ireland, France and Germany and one third of Welsh lamb is exported to the EU. Local farmers rely on trade with the EU27. The FUW has called for us to either Remain or to have a sufficient extension to ensure agreement on trade and other matters and to ensure a close trading agreement. This is not possible with a Conservative government who insist we are leaving by the end of January. A hard Brexit will be felt throughout Monmouth’s local economy. It will affect the supply chain of medicine, food and supplies to local businesses and create chaos and further division within our communities.

The Labour Party is the only party that is committed to giving the people a vote on whether they would wish to leave with the best deal that can be negotiated or whether they would prefer to remain in the EU. Once Labour are elected we will negotiate the best possible deal that safeguards jobs, trade and peace in Northern Ireland. Jeremy Corbyn must remain personally neutral to negotiate that deal and be trusted to deliver the outcome of a final people’s vote. Only Labour will let the people decide whether our leave deal or the deal which we already have with the EU as members is best for Britain.

What do you think is the biggest challenge facing the next MP for Monmouth?

To build trust back in MPs and the whole of our democracy.

To ensure everyone in the constituency has access to the most basic of human rights as quickly as possible – food, clothes and shelter.

To tackle the appalling lack of public transport infrastructure

To undo years of austerity which has resulted in food banks, record levels of child poverty and increased homelessness and to begin to heal the deep divisions and disharmony caused by a Conservative government where family members, friends, colleagues, neighbours and fellow citizens have been divided since May 2016.