Ioan Bellin is a former journalist with experience working in Cardiff and Belfast.

He has worked in the Senedd for Plaid Cymru for 20 years and currently works for regional MS Delyth Jewell, who represents Monmouthshire.

His priorities are fair funding for Monmouthshire, campaign for more affordable housing and better transport links.

“Fair funding for Wales would mean we could recruit 500 more GPs, create a new Cancer Strategy to ensure cancers are caught and treated earlier and end Wales’s postcode lottery for treatment,” said Ioan

“It is clear from this campaign that the Tories are toast, but we can influence the change ahead of us. Keeping the Labour Government in check. Not giving them a free pass to take Welsh votes but then cast Wales’ intersts aside and take us for granted.

“Plaid Cymru offers a positive vision for Monmouthshire which offers a real alternative to the increasingly joined up thinking of the two main UK parties – and a platform which gives people the opportunity to vote for fairness, for ambition, and for Wales,” he said.

Ian lives in Monmouthshire with their wife and three children. Ian was elected in 2022 as the first Green Party County Councillor in Monmouthshire and is MCC’s Cabinet Member for Social Care, Safeguarding & Accessible Health Services within the Labour-Green Coalition. Ian is also the council’s LGBTQI+ Champion and is non-binary. Ian has a degree in chemistry, a masters degree in business, and worked for over 30 years in charities promoting international development, human rights and environmental protection.

 Ian first stood in the 2017 general election as it was important to challenge David TC Davies’s view at that time that there was no such thing as man-made climate change. Passionate about protecting our environment for the sake of current and future generations, Ian is also a vocal advocate for addressing the cost of living crisis, reducing inequality and respecting human rights.

 Ian is standing in this election as voters are calling for an MP who has integrity, honesty and good judgement. An MP who offers real hope for our health and wellbeing instead of a continued decline in our public services. An MP who offers real hope for a society that care, bringing people together instead of driving them apart. An MP who offers real hope for our future by taking the bold action needed to tackle the climate and nature emergency. Ian says that by voting Green, you are sending a message about the real changes that you want to see.

Senior Conservative David Davies has been at the forefront of Welsh politics for 25 years, serving as the Welsh Assembly Member for Monmouth from 1999 until 2007 and the constituency’s Member of Parliament for 19 years. He is standing again in the new parliamentary seat of Monmouthshire – the county he is proud to call home and where he raised his family.

 The 53-year-old lives in Monmouth with his wife Aliz. Their three children were educated at Monmouth Comprehensive School. David was brought up in Newport, attending Sandy Lane Primary School in Caldicot and Bassaleg Comprehensive School.

 David worked for British Steel after leaving school and joined the Territorial Army, serving for 18 months as a Gunner with 104 Air Defence Regiment at Raglan Barracks Newport. He gained an HGV Class 1 licence at Heads of the Valleys Training in Gilwern and was a European lorry driver before managing the family haulage business. He also served as a Special Constable with the British Transport Police in London for eight years.

 A firm believer that politics is local, David championed better ambulance response times for The Grange University Hospital and opposed the overnight closure of minor injury services at Abergavenny’s Nevill Hall Hospital. He held the Welsh Labour Government to account on its dismal record of waiting lists for NHS care and treatment, and strongly criticised the decision to force health boards to make cuts of over £60m while spending £120m on creating extra politicians in Cardiff Bay.

 On infrastructure and transport, David has repeatedly said a bypass is the only long-term solution to addressing the cross-border traffic congestion and poor air quality blighting Chepstow. The Conservative UK Government has made a commitment to provide funding to Monmouthshire County Council to develop plans for a Chepstow bypass, yet the Labour Welsh Government refuses to offer support. Traffic and parking in Monmouth also needs to be sorted out.

 David is in favour of having a 20mph speed limit outside schools and hospitals, or where there are safety issues. But the blanket 20mph policy is causing a massive hit to the economy, which the Welsh Labour Government estimates is around £4bn. The controversial speed limit law has cost £30m so far in new signs and is not backed by people, as shown by the record-breaking petition which reached nearly half-a-million signatures. A Conservative UK Government will legislate to ensure 20mph speed limits across England and Wales cannot be imposed without the support of local residents in referendums.

 As well as opposing the 7.8 per cent council tax hike by Labour-run Monmouthshire County Council and lobbying for a fairer funding settlement, David has supported traders facing higher business rates because of the Welsh Labour Government’s failure to pass on rate relief. He remains united with the agricultural community in anger at policy plans requiring farmers to give up 20 per cent of their land for tree planting and other schemes, and helped to get the £35m clean-up scheme for the River Wye.

 A politician who has never been afraid to speak his mind, David was the first MP to highlight the need for single-sex spaces and the impact of transgender ideology on children. He faced abuse and threats, but his concerns were completely vindicated by the Cass Review.

 David supported economic policies which lowered inflation from over 11 per cent to just 2.3 per cent. He strongly supports the move to save lives in the English Channel by removing people to Rwanda if they arrive in the UK illegally. He will continue to support affordable tax cuts.

True and Fair Party candidate June is a Welsh speaking mother of three from Cardigan who has lived in the Monmouthshire area since 2001.

A graduate of the University of Wales, Swansea, 1987 June holds a degree in History and English Literature. June also holds an MSc in Tourism Management from UWIC, Cardiff and a PGCE/QTS in Business Studies and Economics. June is a passionate educator who has taught in Cardiff, Monmouth and the Forest of Dean working in the secondary school sector to inspire young people to develop their passions through enterprise activities. June currently serves her local community in Redbrook as a parish councillor.

In 2019 she stood as a candidate in the Newport West by-election and European Parliament elections as a vocal proponent of the need for political reform to end corruption in politics. June is passionate about driving grassroots participation in civic life, the need to protect the environment and improving civic engagement in her community.

In her leisure time June sings with a local community choir, enjoys live music and heritage in the outdoors. The True & Fair Party was launched by Gina Miller earlier in 2022 to tackle political corruption an institutional weaknesses, and campaign for the modernisation of UK democracy.

June's top three local priorities are:

Save our Rivers - The fragile ecosystems of the Wye, Usk and Severn and their tributaries are in crisis as a result of the expansion of intensive farming, an inadequate regulatory framework and systemic failures of water utilities to invest in solutions to inadequate combined sewage overflows and surface water drainage.

Affordable Homes and Cost of Living Crisis Beating Local Jobs

Joined up, cross border thinking on planning and infrastructure investment is needed urgently to build sustainable, affordable housing with a well connected transport and community infrastructure that meets the needs of future generations

Economic Regeneration to Deliver Practical Support for Small Businesses

Incentives and grants to encourage new start up businesses and growing businesses. Invest in hybrid working hubs in under-used building in our four main retail centres: Abergavenny, Monmouth, Usk and Chepstow to regenerate town centres #shoplocal #visitmonmouthshire #Regenerativefarming #excluded #shoplocal Farming- Energise our beleaguered agri-tourism sector through accessible sustainable farming schemes - prioritise regenerative farming for food security #youngfarmers #landaccessnow #OneMillionAcres

Catherine Fookes, Labour Candidate for Monmouthshire has lived in Monmouthshire for 25 years as a busy mum, school governor, smallholder, county councillor and leading campaigner for women’s equality in the workplace and in public life.

She’s a farmer’s daughter and says she understand the joys and difficulties of rural life, especially of making ends meet whilst running a farm.  She is also an environmentalist, committed to the beautiful and threatened countryside and rivers oif Monmouthshire. In her downtime, she enjoys going to her sons' gigs, swimming in the Wye, popping into the local pub and walking Beanie, the family dog.   

The cost of living crisis is the biggest challenge – it is the number one issue raised with me on the thousands of doors I have knocked during the campaign. Mortgages, energy bills, the food shop – everything is so expensive after years of Conservative mismanagement of our economy.  Monmouthshire’s families simply cannot afford five more years of the Conservatives. 

The best thing about the constituency is the people of Monmouthshire.  Warm, welcoming, friendly to neighbours and newcomers alike, and always there for each other in good times or bad. 

I am continually impressed by our community groups and churches county-wide who stepped up incredibly during Covid and also during the cost of living crisis creating Warm Hubs and support for our most vulnerable. They are beacons of light and hope. If elected, I would work closely with our community groups to ensure they have what they need to continue their excellent work. 

Catherine’s top priorities

Monmouthshire is one of the most unequal counties in Wales – wealth and relative poverty exist side-by-side.  As your Labour MP, I would tackle inequality and fight everyone’s corner.  I know that the only way to do this is through Labour’s plan for economic growth.

I am passionate about cleaning up our rivers and am proud to have the backing of renowned river campaigners Feargal Sharkey and Angela Jones for my campaign. The Wye is both a Welsh and English river which makes it complicated, but the water regulator, OFWAT, is a UK-wide body whose direction is set by the UK Government.  Labour would tackle cleaning up river pollution after 14 years of Tory neglect, banning bonuses for polluting bosses of failing water companies and ensuring the polluter pays by using fines. Locally, I would bring governments, citizens’ groups and charities together on both sides of the border to complete the job of cleaning up our rivers. 

Many people in Monmouthshire voted Conservative in good faith at the last election and have been terribly let down. Politics can get quite tribal at times and I know how difficult it can be to change the way you vote. So I am directly appealing to those Conservative voters to turn a page and put the country first, with a candidate who knows and loves our constituency. I hope you will all choose positivity and change for Monmouthshire. 

A CAMPAIGNER who challenged the closure of a day centre is standing as an independent candidate at the general election. 

Owen Lewis said since becoming involved in the campaign to try and save the Tudor Centre in Abergavenny he has also taken a stand on bank closures and supporting the high street. 

“I had thought I could get more involved in local issues, and my partner, George, had already said perhaps it’s something I should do but I wasn’t sure, and when the election did come I thought why not go for it?,” said Mr Lewis of his decision to put his name forward as the potential MP for Monmouthshire. 

“It’s a good platform and chance to raise these local issues and also reach out on global issues and issues that are never really talked about like the vulnerable and how these things affect them.” 

Mr Lewis grew up in Abergavenny and returned to the town, after studying in Bristol, after getting involved in the Tudor Centre campaign and the aspiring writer now works in a local bookshop. 

That has sparked his interest in supporting high streets and a campaign against the closure of the Barclays Bank branch while his campaign also focuses on international issues, including Gaza. 

A lack of faith in party politics has motivated Mr Lewis to stand as an independent and said: “A lot of people are opposed to the Conservatives and want to get them out but are actually unhappy with Labour and don’t really understand what its policies are and I’ very concerned with Kier Starmer. 

“If Labour get in locally they will have to follow the party rules of Kier Starmer but as an independent I can be the voice for local people and put that forward and represent all the voices that are not being heard”. 

Despite the profile and strength of established parties Mr Lewis said he isn’t deterred: “I work in a bookshop and a lot of people have come in and said they will vote for me. I’ve been going to hustings and putting my name out there and have people going around Monmouthshire campaigning. I have a good team flyering for me. It’s postive and you never know, anything is possible.” 

The Welsh Liberal Democrats candidate is former Senedd Member William Powell. As a farmer's son, born and bred in the Black Mountains, William is delighted to contest the Monmouth constituency. He is committed to creating a Fairer, Greener, and more Caring society across the region he calls home. A strong champion for the environment, farming and the wider rural economy, William is a Member of the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Authority and chairs its Audit and Risk Committee. A longstanding Powys County Councillor for Talgarth in the northern Black Mountains, William's family has farmed in the area for many generations, and, as a Welsh Liberal Democrat Senedd Member between 2011 - 2016, he served as Shadow Minister for the Environment, Rural Affairs and Planning, as well as Chair of the Petitions Committee. Active in his community for decades, William has consistently promoted community and sporting events and regeneration initiatives. He was also delighted when his own team, Talgarth Town FC recently topped the Gwent Central League Division 2. Monmouthshire - and especially Abergavenny - have a unique place in William's heart, as he spent six weeks in Nevill Hall Hospital, including 3 weeks in ICU, during the first Covid Lockdown. 'I owe my survival to the outstanding care of clinicians and nurses of the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, as well as to the follow up care of my wife Ria, who is also an NHS Nurse practitioner. Now it's time to repay my thanks with hard work and public service.' William gained a Scholarship to study French and German at Pembroke College, Oxford in the 1980s and taught in schools in Herefordshire and Gloucestershire for almost two decades. As a former Chair of the Welsh European Movement, William believes that Brexit has proved disastrous for our region and for the whole of Wales. If elected MP for Monmouth, he would fight to make membership of the EU Single Market an objective of policy. This would benefit our farmers and all Monmouthshire businesses. At the same time rejoining the Erasmus Programme and developing a youth mobility scheme across the EU would be his alternative to the Conservatives' controversial 'National Service' proposals. William passionately believes that renewables can help make Wales self-sufficient in energy, thus delivering lower costs, easing the burden of rising prices and the cost of living crisis on hardworking families. When not working for his community, William enjoys a regular early morning 5K round local sports fields, as well as hill walking. He also volunteers for the DPJ Foundation, the leading Welsh mental health charity for the farming community.

Emma Meredith is the Heritage Party candidate for the Monmouthshire constituency

Mac Windor-Peplow is the Reform UK candidate for Monmouthshire

Full list of candidates in the Monmouthshire constituency. All candidates have been invited to contribute to this article