Welsh Liberal Democrats name General Election candidates for Cardiff East and Cardiff North as party targets the capital

The Welsh Liberal Democrats have confirmed their candidates for two key Cardiff seats at the next general election. Former Cardiff Council leader Cllr Rodney Berman has been re-selected for Cardiff East, and Cllr Joe Carter has been selected for Cardiff North.

The party sees Cardiff as a key battleground and says the selections show it intends to offer voters a real alternative to Labour in the capital.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats are already the official opposition to Labour on Cardiff Council and are looking to build their support ahead of next May’s local elections.

At the last General Election, the Liberal Democrats achieved a 12% swing to them from Labour in Cardiff East, despite Labour winning a landslide across the country. If the same 12% swing was repeated at the next General Election, the seat currently held by Jo Stevens could fall to the Lib Dems.

Rodney Berman led Cardiff Council and has a long record of standing up for the city. He said:

"I'm proud to be standing again for the people of Cardiff East. Labour keeps telling us this is as good as things get. It isn't. Under Jo Stevens, our nation's capital has been left behind.

"In her time as Secretary of State for Wales, our voice was quietly diminished. She failed to stand up for Wales when we were owed our fair share of HS2 funding. And when residents rightly demanded action on the crumbling Heath Hospital, she stayed silent while her Welsh Labour colleagues oversaw its decline from government in the Senedd. People here deserve far better than being taken for granted, and I'll take that message to London loud and clear."

Rodney is already campaigning on issues that matter to residents including fighting Labour-run Cardiff council on plans to move the Welsh-medium high school out of Penylan and the east of the city to the south of Cardiff. With colleagues, he is also opposing plans to replace the park and ride service to UHW at Pentwyn interchange with a data centre.

He added:

"Families in the east of Cardiff shouldn't lose their Welsh-medium secondary school, and patients and staff shouldn't lose a vital link to the hospital. I'll keep pushing for the Heath to be rebuilt, because many of its older buildings are in a very poor state. And I'll be pressing the UK Government to do far more on the cost of living, including real action to bring down the impact of rising energy bills."

Adding his comments Cllr Joe Carter said:

"Cardiff North has been let down by Labour at all levels of government and needs a local champion. I have fought to save the Maindy Velodrome, called for a plan to fix the crumbling Heath Hospital and opposed Welsh Water’s  sewage pumping station in Llandaff North. I will fight for cleaner streets, more neighbourhood police and more money in the pockets of hard working people by raising the thresholds on when people pay income tax.’

Congratulating Rodney and Joe on their selection, Welsh Liberal Democrat Westminster Spokesperson David Chadwick MP added:

“Rodney and Joe are fantastic candidates for Cardiff, with long records of outstanding public service. They would be phenomenal representatives for Cardiff in Westminster.

“Throughout this Parliament, Labour has consistently failed to stand up for the needs of Wales, despite several Cardiff Labour MPs having served in the Cabinet. It simply isn't good enough.

“I have been holding Labour to account in Westminster over the chronic underfunding of Welsh railways, the failure to devolve the Crown Estate and the need for a fairer funding settlement for Wales.

“But having more Welsh Liberal Democrat MPs alongside me would make our voice even louder and strengthen our ability to secure real change for Wales.

“Unlike Plaid Cymru, which will never have the parliamentary numbers to influence over UK Government policy, the Liberal Democrats already have 71 MPs across the UK. That gives us the parliamentary strength to put real pressure on the Government and push for the policy changes that Cardiff and the whole of Wales deserve.”

ENDS