By-election shines new spotlight on historic Caerphilly

Caerphilly Castle is Britain's second biggest, after Windsor Castle

From its imposing castle to its industrial past, Caerphilly is an area steeped in history, and for more than a century this constituency has voted Labour in every Westminster and Senedd election.

Visitors come from afar to see Wales' largest castle, but the by-election called after the sudden death of former Labour member Hefin David has shone a new spotlight on this town.

In the last Senedd election, in 2021, Labour won with a majority of 5,000 over Plaid Cymru, who were just ahead of the Conservatives.

But if recent opinion polling is to be believed, then it suggests Labour has a real fight on its hands this time.

Its candidate Richard Tunnicliffe, a former children's book publisher, believes that he can offer something different and says that he's willing to be a "critical friend" to the government in Cardiff.

On a visit to Lansbury Park, one of the most deprived areas in the constituency, he said that crime and anti-social behaviour were big issues for people in the area.

"They want cleaner streets, and a community they can be proud of," he said.

"They basically want people to invest in their community, they want the problems of the anti-social behaviour to go away."

He added that people were calling for "more investment in their community, they want things to get better".

But the other parties sense an opportunity to challenge Labour's dominance.

Lindsay Whittle, the Plaid Cymru candidate, has plenty of experience fighting elections in this area, having stood here 13 times before, as well as being a local councillor.

Speaking at a foodbank, he said Plaid offered "radical and real change".

"Whilst people may continually talk about stop the boats, you've got problems with the NHS, you've got problems with the cost of living, the rising price of food, the rising price of gas, electricity, fuel, that's what affects everybody's daily lives," he said.

Reform had fewer than 500 votes here in the last Senedd election in 2021 but is confident of improving substantially on that.

In last year's UK general election Reform came third with just over 20% of the vote - although that election was fought on slightly different constituency boundaries.

Its candidate, Llyr Powell, said that he did not believe that "voters have been listened to in this area for a very long time".

"I understand the real issues affecting people here in Wales. Living here in Caerphilly I understand the issues that we haven't got an A&E service like we were promised, living here I understand the level of council of tax we're paying, the closures of our front line services.

"I think Reform understands the voters a lot more."

Regular bus user Ian Mickiewicz believes "things could be a lot better"

Gareth Potter, the Conservative candidate, said his main issue was fixing local services.

"The biggest thing for us is fixing the NHS system that has been broken by Labour and Plaid, also our economy. We're seeing high streets dying across the region and across Wales and that is our biggest mission, as well as our education system."

Four other parties are also standing.

Gareth Hughes, from the Green Party, is calling for more green jobs for people where they live and better public services - including more evening bus services.

The Liberal Democrat Steve Aicheler wants to prioritise education and "fix the social care crisis" to free up the Welsh NHS and reduce waiting times.

Anthony Cook is standing for Gwlad and the UKIP candidate is Roger Quilliam.

There is clearly a strong sense of community in this part of the Rhymney Valley and people feel pride in their local area.

But they want improvement too and people's concerns are varied, be it buses, healthcare, or the state of the high street.

"This town should be thriving, there shouldn't be any shops shut," said Wayne, who was stood next to an empty retail space in Caerphilly town centre.

"We've got a castle over there that attracts thousands of visitors a year and they've got to drive through, basically, a dump.

"At least make it look attractive to visitors, don't let the town die on its feet."

Heather Street worries about the impact of a swimming pool closing

Another shopper in the town, Stephanie Dickson, was concerned about local traffic.

"The traffic is terrible, trying to getting all the way from Senghenydd to Abertridwr is a real issue," she said.

"We've got a big development in Abertridwr on the site of the old Windsor colliery," she explained, "again the traffic seems to be a big problem, it doesn't seem to have the infrastructure to support it".

The area's coal mining past is never far away. The old miner's hospital in Caerphilly is now a cafe and community hub.

Ian Mickiewicz, a regular bus user, said he thought "things could be a lot better".

"At Nantgarw they've just built a recent bus stop. They've put that in place, but there are no seats.

"If they have a half hour [to] 40 minutes to wait then, whilst the shelter is useful, it's no fun at all if you've got to stand in a barren isolated location waiting for that bus to turn up."

Caerphilly constituency is much bigger than the town itself, it extends up to Bargoed in the north and to Machen in the east.

At a nursery in Machen, childcare was a big concern for the staff, but so was the closure of the swimming pool in Bedwas.

"Children go there after school on their own," said Heather Street, "but if that closes where are they going to go then?"

Her colleague, Steph Bolter, was concerned about the affect on school swimming lessons.

"They're going to have to travel further, schools ain't going to be able to afford to pay for the coaches to go to a swimming pool that's further down the road," she said.

Many people have welcomed the focus on their area that this by-election brings, and every party is working hard to gain their support.

Because this election is not just about sending one representative to the Senedd, it is also about creating the right foundation for success in the Senedd election next May.