The UK general election is now in its final stages and while the union-wide result hardly seems in doubt, each constituency and candidate has a story to tell.

Here at the Hiraeth Pod we are recording a series of short interviews with new candidates who are contesting constituencies across Wales. These are new faces on the national scene and will no doubt feature in the 2026 Senedd campaign even if unsuccessful this time around.

We plan to speak to each of the main parties in Wales, which we consider to be the ones standing in every constituency at the start of the campaign (though since then some have fallen away, as you are no doubt aware). So we will be sharing interviews with Conservative, Plaid Cymru, Green, Reform, Liberal Democrat, and Labour candidates as we try to uphold the values of public service broadcasting in the digital age.

In this pod we speak with Oliver Lewis, spokesperson for Reform UK in Wales and candidate for the new Montgomeryshire & Glyndŵr Constituency. With the incumbent Conservative MP Craig Williams embroiled in a betting scandal mid-campaign, the sense is that this formerly safe Conservative seat might be ripe for change and Oliver is drawing on political history to position Reform as that change.

You can find Oliver on X/Twitter here: https://twitter.com/policy_uk
And Montgomeryshire Reform UK here: https://twitter.com/reformMaldwyn

The candidates in Montgomeryshire & Glyndŵr are:
England and Wales Green Party: Jeremy Brignell-Thorp 
Reform UK:  Oliver Lewis
Liberal Democrats: Glyn Preston
Plaid Cymru: Elwyn Vaughan
Conservative & Unionist Party: Craig Williams
UK Labour: Steve Witherden

As always, you can find the latest from us @hiraethpod on most social media, including Twitter/X here: twitter.com/HiraethPod

We hope you find this podcast interesting and useful. Please do send feedback, it's always great to hear what our audience thinks.

Thank you for listening to the podcast. If you have enjoyed it, please leave us a nice rating or comment on your podcast app or on YouTube and, if you are able to do so, please consider supporting our work from just £3/month on Patreon: www.patreon.com/hiraethpod

Twitter Mentions