Tomorrow is election day! A big day for Wales.

Last night, The Valleys Lead visited both an anti-racism protest and a Reform UK rally in Merthyr Tydfil. We want to tell you about what we saw and heard (it’s below!), but first, we wanted to let you know we are hoping to continue to build a community of readers in the south Wales valleys, and you would be doing local journalism a massive favour by reading, and then sharing these newsletters on your social media feeds, or just sending them to people you think might be interested.

If you’re enjoying and/or finding these newsletters helpful and informative, we’d love you to keep joining us every week by subscribing (there are free and paid options). And if you want to receive our exclusive reporting in full, there is just a small yearly fee (more on that below).

Thanks for reading, and thanks to everyone who has been in touch thus far with story tips. Rest assured, if you come to me with a story, discretion can be guaranteed. We’d love you to get in touch at valleys@thelead.uk or via Bluesky or Instagram with any stories you might have for us.

If you haven’t subscribed yet, please do so below - there are free and paid options. We’d be over the moon if you financially supported local journalism by paying just a small yearly amount when you subscribe.

Just enter your email to support exclusive local journalism in the south Wales valleys.

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If you want to support The Valleys Lead, it’s free to subscribe. Paid subscribers get a bit more for only £4.99 a month, or £49 a year.

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The Valleys Briefing

(A little round-up of some stories in brief from our valleys.)

• A new director of Eduction for Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council (MTCBC) has been announced. Ryan Morgan will replace Sue Walker, whose letter regarding ALN children sparked controversy in February. We covered the letter and the reaction to it, here. Morgan previously worked as the Chair of Headteacher Federation for MTCBC for six years before taking the new role.

• Will Hayward’s newsletter recently published a deep dive asking what the future was for steel in Port Talbot. We think you’ll like it.

• New polling from ITV Cymru shows that Plaid Cymru has jumped ahead and is predicted. The findings, released two days before polls open, show Rhun ap Iorwerth’s party with 33% of the vote share, four percentage points ahead of Reform UK at 29%.

Chinese chicken in schools and the 20 MPH limit

Tomorrow is election day, when people living in Wales have the chance to vote for which party they want to represent them in the Senedd, the Welsh Parliament.

Last night, Reform UK finished off their campaign trail in Merthyr Tydfil, outside of Trago Mills, with Nigel Farage, Dan Thomas, and Laura Anne Jones speaking to a crowd of hundreds expectedly awaiting for change in Wales, change in the south Wales valleys.

The Valleys Lead wanted to find out what would be said at the rally, and what the general feel would be among those attending, but before venturing past the multiple security guards, we stopped to talk to anti-racism protestors at the edge of the event.

“The south Wales valleys are full of migrants,” one of the protestors, a Merthyr Tydfil native, told The Valleys Lead, questioning why Reform is opposed to migrants.

Another said that the valleys were “built on immigration.”

They held placards and signs. The valleys are anti-fascist. Keep Reform out of Cymru. Furious grandma against fascist gobshites. Refugees welcome here. Reform are racist.

As cars pulled in past their protest, there were a number of middle fingers held up from people in cars. Honked horns. Laughing.

“In the valleys, we’re definitely seeing an increase in quite openly racist and xenophobic behaviour,” Caspar Harris, a campaigner for Stand Up to Racism Valleys, told The Valleys Lead. “There’s an increase of behaviours in person, but also online. It’s quite shameless.”

He said that not everyone who thinks about voting for Reform is racist. “People are just disillusioned,” Harris said.

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Merthyr Tydfil’s Affordable Housing Development Policy 2026-2030 says that the latest review of housing need confirms “acute shortage of one bedroom, general need accommodation.”

We spoke with one Merthyr Tydfil resident about the impact of the one-bedroom property shortage, local councillor Geraint Thomas, and a spokesperson from Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council to find out why the problem exists, who is impacted, and what can be done.

The story is below, but first, we wanted to let you know we are hoping to continue to build a community of readers in the south Wales valleys, and you would be doing local journalism a massive favour by reading, and then sharing these newsletters on your social media feeds, or just sending them to people you think might be interested.

If you’re enjoying and/or finding these newsletters helpful and informative, we’d love you to keep joining us every week by subscribing (there are free and paid options). And if you want to receive our exclusive reporting in full, there is just a small yearly fee (more on that below).

Thanks for reading, and thanks to everyone who has been in touch thus far with story tips. Rest assured, if you come to me with a story, discretion can be guaranteed. We’d love you to get in touch at valleys@thelead.uk or via Bluesky or Instagram with any stories you might have for us.

If you haven’t subscribed yet, please do so below - there are free and paid options. We’d be over the moon if you financially supported local journalism by paying just a small yearly amount when you subscribe.

Just enter your email to support exclusive local journalism in the south Wales valleys.

If you want to support The Valleys Lead, it’s free to subscribe. Paid subscribers get a bit more for only £4.99 a month, or £49 a year.

It’s also free to share. And it would be a hugely appreciated if you did share The Valleys Lead with all your friends, acquaintances, and colleagues. Thank you!

Share

The Valleys Briefing

(A little round-up of some stories in brief from our valleys.)

• Senedd elections are this week - Thursday. If you are in the valleys and want to know the candidates for each party, the changes to the Senedd, and how to vote, we’ve done a round up for you here and here.

• Projects vital for Blaenau Gwent might need to be put on the “back burner” if funding from the new Welsh Government doesn’t materialise. At a meeting of Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council’s Corporate Governance and Resources scrutiny committee, councillor received a report following an Audi Wales Review of Capital Planning in Wales. Audit Wales had looked at how all 22 councils in Wales managed their capital budgets and had provided recommendations on how to make improvements. Capital budgets are allocations of money given to councils by central government to use on long-term assets and projects to invest in services - like building new school and maintaining roads. One of the councillors asked whether changes to the council budget could be expected after the election. The answer from Director of corporate services? Essentially, priorities the council might have to change with a new Welsh Government.

• The new leader of Rhondda Cynon Taf Council will be Ann Crimmings, to replace Andrew Morgan, who decided to step down from the role earlier this year. Morgan said of Crimmings: “Ann brought a wealth of experience with her before entering local government and has been a member of Cabinet since 2014. She has played a key role in taking forward the services for which she has been responsible, including the largest investment in leisure facilities and significant improvements in recycling. Ann’s experience, dedication and values make her the right person to lead Rhondda Cynon Taf Council forward.”

1,409 people in Merthyr Tydfil are waiting for a one-bedroom property

For the last five years, one mother in Merthyr Tydfil has been watching on as her son struggles to access one-bedroom accommodation.

“Nathan had previously rented privately in Aberfan after he and his wife separated,” Paula Phillips-Hurt, a 61-year-old in Merthyr Tydfil, told The Valleys Lead. “But after the pandemic, he was diagnosed with hereditary spastic paraplegia, and his legs stopped working. Nathan was assessed by the Occupational Therapist who works for Merthyr Housing, and he agreed Nathan needed an accessible property.”

Nathan was placed on the housing register five years ago, and still hasn’t been housed, despite being moved from a Band 3 (low priority) to a Band 2 (medium priority).

“There aren’t enough one-bedroom properties available,” Paula said. “When he bids, there are typically over 100 people before him bidding on the same property.”

A report has found what Paula and many others in Merthyr Tydfil already know – that there isn’t enough one-bedroom accommodation available.

In Merthyr Tydfil’s Affordable Housing Development Policy 2026-2030, set to go before a scrutiny committee, it says that the latest review of housing need confirms “acute shortage of one bedroom, general need accommodation.”

As of July 2025, there were 1,409 active applications for one-bedroom homes, representing 60% of all housing need in Merthyr Tydfil. Of these, 261 households have the highest priority (Band 1 or 2), but the majority remain in Band 3, reflecting non-statutory need.

Historically, Merthyr Tydfil’s social housing stock has been made up of family sized homes rather than one-bedroom properties.

Read more

Last week, a sunny week for everyone in the south Wales valleys, The Valleys Lead spoke with people in Pontypridd about politics, the election, which party they’d vote for, and - of course - about the food at the iconic, The Prince’s.

The story is below, but first, we wanted to let you know we are hoping to continue to build a community of readers in the south Wales valleys, and you would be doing local journalism a massive favour by reading, and then sharing these newsletters on your social media feeds, or just sending them to people you think might be interested.

If you’re enjoying and/or finding these newsletters helpful and informative, we’d love you to keep joining us every week by subscribing (there are free and paid options). And if you want to receive our exclusive reporting in full, there is just a small yearly fee (more on that below).

Thanks for reading, and thanks to everyone who has been in touch thus far with story tips. Rest assured, if you come to me with a story, discretion can be guaranteed. We’d love you to get in touch at valleys@thelead.uk or via Bluesky or Instagram with any stories you might have for us.

If you haven’t subscribed yet, please do so below - there are free and paid options. We’d be over the moon if you financially supported local journalism by paying just a small yearly amount when you subscribe.

If you want to support The Valleys Lead, it’s free to subscribe. Paid subscribers get a bit more for only £4.99 a month, or £49 a year.

It’s also free to share. And it would be a hugely appreciated if you did share The Valleys Lead with all your friends, acquaintances, and colleagues. Thank you!

Share

The Valleys Briefing

(A little round-up of some stories in brief from our valleys.)

• For a bit of local, happy news Blaenau Gwent Youth Service’s girls’ football team are preparing to depart for Mexico City to represent Wales at the Street Child World Cup. They’ll play football matches with team from around the world, experience shared cultures, and participate in a youth-led International Congress to speak directly about issues impact children and young people. “This opportunity means so much - not just for the girls individually, but for all of us as a team,” Lucy Hill, the coach, said. “We’re not only representing a small borough like Blaenau Gwent, but we’re also carrying the pride of Wales onto a global stage.”

• Jamie Bevan is currently on a 2500 mile journey walking from Merthyr Tydfil to Istabul, raising money for Cylch Meithrin Y Gurnos, a Welsh-language Early Years setting based in one of Wales’ most deprived communities. He’s now been walking for 22 days. “Cylch Meithrin Y Gurnos is more than a childcare setting,” he wrote on his GoFundMe page. “It’s a lifeline for families in the Gurnos, Merthyr Tydfil, an area where poverty, social challenges, and lack of opportunity can shape a child’s future before they’ve even started school. At Cylch Meithrin Y Gurnos, children are given a real chance to thrive. They’re welcomed into a safe, caring space where they can play, learn, and grow. Through the medium of Welsh, the setting offers them the gift of bilingualism, a lifelong advantage proven to enhance cognitive ability, cultural connection, and future opportunity.”

• Caerphilly councillor, Brenda Miles, who criticised library closures and was frozen out from the council’s Labour group last summer, has joined Independents. Miles said she felt “condemned” for speaking up for her community. The library closure plan is currently on hold pending a legal challenge from campaigners.

What party will people in the south Wales valleys vote for on May 7?

In just over a week, polling will open for the 2026 Senedd election. It is already historic because it represents the most significant overhaul of Welsh democracy since devolution began in 1999.

The size of the Senedd is increasing from 60 to 96 members, and voters now cast a single vote for a political party or independent candidate rather than a specific local person. The seats are allocated based on the share of votes each party or independent candidate gets. For example, if a party wins three seats, the top three people on their list will be elected to those seats.

If you want to find out the candidate lists in your constituency in the south Wales valleys, we have created a guide for you here (for Afan Ogwr Rhondda, Pontypridd Cynon Merthyr, and Blaenau Gwent Caerffili Rhymni) and here (for Casnewydd Islwyn and Brycheiniog Tawe Nedd).

The latest YouGov MRP modelling projection is that 37 seats will go to Reform UK and 36 seats for Plaid Cymru.

Explaining the polling, Dr Jac Larner from Cardiff University’s Welsh Governance Centre, said that “all polls come with a margin of error, and we should be cautious about reading too much into a single result.”

“But taken alongside the broader polling trend, the signal is clear: the race for the largest party remains between Plaid Cymru and Reform UK, with every other party - including Labour, who were dominant in Welsh politics not two years ago — competing for a distant third place and below,” Larner said.

With the polling results in mind, The Valleys Lead wanted to gauge what people in the south Wales valleys are thinking about politics, the election, and which party they intend to vote for next week.

To do that, we headed to Pontypridd, a historic market town in Rhondda Cynon Taf, spending a sunny day walking around Ynysangharad War Memorial Park, the high street, and Pontypridd Indoor Market speaking with anyone who was up for a chat.

Here’s what we heard.

Read more

Dan Thomas is the first place candidate for Reform UK in Casnewydd Islwyn, in the south Wales valleys, and the party’s leader in Wales. A new report from Unison says that the leader’s outsourcing track record in Barnet, where he served on the council for 19 years, should be a warning for the south Wales valleys, and the rest of Wales. We spoke with a John Burgess, of Barnet Unison, and other candidates in the Casnewydd Islwyn constituency to find out if we should be concerned that the same will happen here.

The story is below, but first, we wanted to let you know we are hoping to continue to build a community of readers in the south Wales valleys, and you would be doing local journalism a massive favour by reading, and then sharing these newsletters on your social media feeds, or just sending them to people you think might be interested.

If you’re enjoying and/or finding these newsletters helpful and informative, we’d love you to keep joining us every week by subscribing (there are free and paid options). And if you want to receive our exclusive reporting in full, there is just a small yearly fee (more on that below).

Thanks for reading, and thanks to everyone who has been in touch thus far with story tips. Rest assured, if you come to me with a story, discretion can be guaranteed. We’d love you to get in touch at valleys@thelead.uk or via Bluesky or Instagram with any stories you might have for us.

If you haven’t subscribed yet, please do so below - there are free and paid options. We’d be over the moon if you financially supported local journalism by paying just a small yearly amount when you subscribe.

If you want to support The Valleys Lead, it’s free to subscribe. Paid subscribers get a bit more for only £4.99 a month, or £49 a year.

It’s also free to share. And it would be a hugely appreciated if you did share The Valleys Lead with all your friends, acquaintances, and colleagues. Thank you!

Share

The Valleys Briefing

(A little round-up of some stories in brief from our valleys.)

• In Deri, a village in Caerphilly, a church will be converted into two homes. The church closed in early 2023 due to “being surplus to requirements as a result of a declining congregation.” No objections were raised to the proposals to the council during a recent public consultation period. Is this one solution to the housing crisis? We’d love to hear what you think.

• This is a story we must give mention to as so many in the valleys are talking about it. South Wales Police Rhondda Cynon Taf, Merthyr Tydfil, and Bridgend have issued a statement that they received a report of a dog - Zak, a terrier - being stolen from its owner in Mountain Ash. The owner is reportedly a vulnerable adult. The dog was found dead the next day. There was widespread community concern following the news of Zak’s disappearance and death, with many criticising initial response time. #Justice4Zak started trending, with residents demanding accountability.

• Tourism brought in more than £156 million towards the local economy in Merthyr Tydfil, new figures show. 1.31 million visitors came to Merthyr Tydfil in 2024. The economic impact of tourism in the town has been rising post-pandemic, bouncing back from the pandemic more effectively than the majority of the other 21 local authorities in Wales. Merthyr Tydfil Council is currently developing a destination management plan which is the third iteration of a dedicated tourism strategy for Merthyr Tydfil.

The devastating “legacy” of Dan Thomas in Barnet. Will it be the same in the valleys?

A new report from Unison reveals how Dan Thomas, first place candidate for Reform UK in Casnewydd Islwyn and the party’s leader in Wales, left a London council spending “years dismantling” a mess of mass outsourcing of public services.

Thomas was a Conservative councillor in Barnet from 2006 to 2025, serving as leader of the council from 2019 to 2022.

Under his leadership, alongside others, core services were outsourced, costs rose sharply, scrutiny was weakened, and hundreds lost their jobs.

Before outsourcing commenced, Thomas’s cabinet “spent a fortune on consultants to advise them on what type of outsourcing they should do,” John Burgess, of Unison’s Barnet Branch, who witnessed every step of Thomas’s action in the council, told The Valleys Lead. “They spent millions on consultants.”

Unison, and the community “tried everything to convince” Thomas, and “submitted hundreds of reports” urging Thomas not to “go down this road.”

“But he’s very ideological, and arrogant,” Burgess said. “Once he’s into it, he’s into it. You can’t say anything.”

In 2013, with the promise of “saving money,” Barnet signed two ten-year contracts with Capita worth about £500 million to the company.

“The contracts covered HR, finance, payroll, council tax, IT, building control, public health, planning, environmental health, call handling, highways, and regeneration,” Burgess said.

Burgess distinctly remembers dealing with “mass redundancies on a scale you can’t imagine.” The report revealed that 790 jobs were transferred into the private sector.

The contracts promised £165 million in savings, but by 2022, Barnet’s incoming Labour leadership said the council had paid £229 million more than originally planned.

Pensions administration, which had been outsourced, became so poor that Barnet was the first local authority fined by the Pensions Regulator.

“And Thomas couldn’t accept that it was a failure,” Burgess said.

Read more

Today is the second week of our guide to the 2026 Senedd election. Here, we will give you a list all the candidates in the south Wales valleys, with as much detail about each that we could find. We want to make it easier for you to know what candidates are standing, and thought this was the best way. We hope you find it helpful.

We’ll be looking at Casnewydd Islwyn and Brycheiniog Tawe Nedd. Head over to Sunday’s edition for others.

The guide is below, but first, we wanted to let you know we are hoping to continue to build a community of readers in the south Wales valleys, and you would be doing local journalism a massive favour by reading, and then sharing these newsletters on your social media feeds, or just sending them to people you think might be interested.

If you’re enjoying and/or finding these newsletters helpful and informative, we’d love you to keep joining us every week by subscribing (there are free and paid options). And if you want to receive our exclusive reporting in full, there is just a small yearly fee (more on that below).

Thanks for reading, and thanks to everyone who has been in touch thus far with story tips. Rest assured, if you come to me with a story, discretion can be guaranteed. We’d love you to get in touch at valleys@thelead.uk or via Bluesky or Instagram with any stories you might have for us.

If you haven’t subscribed yet, please do so below! We’d be over the moon if you financially supported local journalism by paying just a small yearly amount when you subscribe.

We’d love you to subscribe. There are free and paid options available.

We’d love you to subscribe to support local journalism in the south Wales valleys (free and paid subscriptions available!).

If you want to support The Valleys Lead, it’s free to subscribe. Paid subscribers get a bit more for only £4.99 a month, or £49 a year.

It’s also free to share. And it would be a hugely appreciated if you did share The Valleys Lead with all your friends, acquaintances, and colleagues. Thank you!

Share

The Valleys Briefing

(A little round-up of some stories in brief from our valleys.)

• According to polling released yesterday from ITV Cymru, Reform UK has closed the gap on Plaid Cymru in the race to became the largest party in the Senedd. The two parties have consistently been neck-and-neck in polls, but Reform UK has increased its vote share, while Plaid Cymru has seen a drop, since the last polling by ITV. Both parties are now tied at 29%.

• Proposals for a wind farm could see the first ever 200m high turbines in Rhondda Cynon Taf. The plans are for the construction, operation, and decommissioning of up to eight wind turbines and solar panels with a battery storage facility and associated infrastructure on land north east of Porth and south of Llanwonno. There were mixed responses from councillors in response to the announcement, with one councillor saying that while she favours wind turbines, each window she looks out of in her house, there are wind turbines.

• Reform MS Laura Anne Jones posted on social media that “contrary to the lefty media,” Nigel Farage had a “wonderful welcome in Merthyr last week.”

• Peppers, a restaurant in Aberdare, posted that the costs for their small business has increased significantly. They have asked that if “you believe in supporting local and small businesses, your support means more to us than you may realise."

Who are the candidates for each party in the south Wales valleys? Part two.

With the Senedd election coming up on 7 May, The Valleys Lead has dedicated two editions to being a one-stop-shop for readers to find out who is running for each party. This is the second edition in the series.

There have been, as you’ll know, some major changes to devolved elections in Wales. Constituency boundaries have changed, as has the voting system and the number of politicians who will be elected.

There will be sixteen constituencies throughout Wales, and each will elect six Senedd Members. Instead of the current 60 Senedd members, there will be 96. You will no longer have two votes for a constituency and regional member, but one vote for a party or independent candidate you want to represent your constituency in the Senedd.

If a party wins enough votes, they will win one or more seats in the Senedd. So, for example, if a party wins three seats in a constituency, the top three people on their list will become Members for that area. If an independent candidate wins enough votes, they will also win a seat in the Senedd for their constituency.

The seats will be allocated based on the share of votes each party or independent candidate gets. So, if Party A gets 50% of the votes in a constituency, they will likely get three of the six seats. If Party B gets 30%, they will likely get two of the six seats. If an independent candidate has enough votes, they will also win a seat.

To vote, you’ll need to register in advance (hopefully, you’ve already done this). You’ll get a poll card in the post which will tell you where to go to vote (your polling station) on the day of the election). You do not need to bring ID when you vote in a Senedd election. At your polling station you will be given a ballot paper and will have one vote for the party or independent candidate you want to represent you in the Senedd. Your ballot paper will show the full list of candidates in your constituency, so you can still see who is standing for election.

To avoid total overwhelm, we’ve just focused on the candidates from two constituencies for today. Three others were covered on Sunday, so feel free to have a look.

You’ll notice that for some candidates, we couldn’t find much information at all. Please do get in touch with us if you have any details about a candidate we can weave in, and we’ll update our list.

Casnewydd Islwyn (Blackwood, Pontllanfraith, Risca)

Conservative and Unionist Party

1. Natasha Asghar – The first woman of colour elected to the Senedd as MS for South Wales East. She was elected to the Senedd in May 2021. She has a background working in media. British Vogue named called her a “force for change,” and the BBC said she was one of the world’s 100 most influential and inspiring women. She previously ran in UK parliamentary elections in 2015 and 2017, but was not elected. She was named the Welsh Conservative’s Shadow Minister for Transport and technology and is working to see the creation an all Wales travel card similar to the Oyster card in London. Has said it is time to “rebuild trust” after “botched job of devolution.” Has been accused of engineering matters that that Senedd Conservative staff member would secure the nomination.

2. Toby Jones – Ran in Newport local elections in 2022, but was not elected. A close friend of Natash Asghar, and it is suspected Natasha campaigned for him to get a spot on the list for the Senedd elections.

3. Jake Enea – First time standing for election.

4. Georgie Webb – Has run twice in Newport local elections in 2017 and 2022, and then in Cardiff local elections in 2022, but was not elected.

5. Adam Morris – First time standing for election.

6. Rebecca Mamhend – First time standing for election.

Green Party

1. Lauren James – Newport Councillor elected in 2022. Ran in the 2021 Senedd elections and in the 2024 UK Parliamentary general election, but was not elected.

2. Philip Davis – First time standing for election

3. Zaynab Greengrass – First time standing for election

4. Kerry Vosper – Previously active in trade unions. Stood for Bristol City Council election in 2016 and the 2024 UK Parliamentary general election, but was not elected.

5. Julian Mayer – First time standing for election.

6. Andrew Were – Stood for election in 2022 Monmouthshire local election but was not elected.

Heritage Party

1. Mike Ford – Has stood for election five times since 2016 in both local, Parliamentary, and Senedd elections, but was not elected. He’s been part of UKIP and Abolish the Welsh Assembly Party before joining Heritage Party. Supports the stance to end net zero, and wants to put a stop to relationships and sex education in primary schools.

Labour Party

1. Jayne Bryant – Newport West MS since 2016. Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government, after previously being the Minister for Mental Health and Early Years. As a backbencher, Jayne was elected by the Senedd as the Chair of the Children, Young People and Education Committee and the Standards of Conduct Committee. Was “grilled” during a committee meeting over fears building safety reforms would suppress social housing supply.

2. Rhianon Passmore – MS for Islwyn since 2016. Has chaired the Welsh Labour’s Women’s Committee and Policy Forum and is a Welsh Woman of the Year Finalist. Previous county councillor.

3. Chris Carter – First time standing for election. Considers himself a Labour activist. Been involved in local campaigns to get streetlights back on at night and fill in potholes.

4. Rhian Howells – Newport councillor. Cabinet member for infrastructure and assets. Chartered surveyor by trade.

5. Julie Sangani – Cardiff councillor. First Indian woman to serve on Cardiff City Council.

6. Stephen Marshall – Newport councillor.

7. David Chinnick Martin – Previously stood for local elections in 2022, but was not elected.

Liberal Democrats

1. Mike Hamilton – Previously an engineering officer for the Merchant Navy. Obtained his Ph.D. in archaeology in Cardiff. Has been a Newport Councillor, cabinet member and deputy leader of Newport City Council. He has stood for Parliament and the Senedd on three occasions and achieved the best LibDem result in Wales when he stood for the Police and Crime Commissioner in 2024.

2. John Miller – Has stood for election in Newport and Torfaen, two UK Parliamentary general elections, the Senedd in 2021, and Gwent Police and Crime Commissioner.

3. Nurul Islam – Previously stood in Newport local election in 2022 but was not elected.

4. Harun Rashid - Previously stood in Newport local election in 2022 but was not elected.

5. Mary Lloyd – Former member of the Royal Air Force.

6. Jeff Evans – Previously stood in local elections but was not elected.

Plaid Cymru

1. Peredur Owen Griffiths – Current Plaid Cymru MS for South Wales East since 2021. He’s been a councillor in Caerphilly since 2017. Worked in the financial and charity sector. Acted as Board of Directors for Displaced People in Action, a charity working to place refugees, and then worked with the many faith groups across Wales.

2. Lyn Ackerman – Plaid Cymru Caerphilly councillor.

3. Rhys Mills – Blackwood Town councillor.

4. Joshua Rawcliffe – Has previously stood in a number of elections as part of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition, and Independent. Worked in the charity sector. A community councillor.

5. Jonathan Clark - Has been Regional Vice President/Regional Co-ordinator for Plaid Cymru in South East Wales and was Plaid Cymru’s candidate for Monmouth for the 2005 General Election and the 2007 National Assembly Election. Political interests include affordable housing, public transport and economic development.

6. Sarah Henton – First time standing for election.

Reform UK

1. Dan Thomas – Leader of Reform UK Wales. Previously has stood in elections as part of the Conservative and Unionist Party in UK Parliamentary and local elections. He served as a Conservative councillor, deputy leader and council leader. A UNISON report showed the consequences of his nearly two decades in senior roles at Barnet Council, where the report said core services were outsourced on a “huge scale.” Although originally from Blackwood, he had been working, prior to 2025, in London. He defected from the Conservative to Reform UK in 2025.

2. Art Wright – First time standing for election

3. Marie-Claire Lea – First time standing for election

4. Nick Jones - A former Conservative Parliamentary candidate who defected to Reform UK.

“The Conservative Party in Wales has stopped listening and has run out of ideas,” he said. “In order to better represent my community and the aspirations of the hard-working people of this nation, I have joined Reform UK.” Previous Councillor in Torfaen.

5. Rebecca Senior – Previously worked in public and private sectors and started her own business in 2023. Was stood for election in local elections but not elected.

6. Tomos Llewellyn – First time standing for election. Head of Strategy & Press Secretary for Reform MS James Evans.

Open Party

1. Justna Muhith - First time standing for election.She has seven degrees, a doctorate in neuroendocrinology, an MBA, a law degree, and several master’s-level leadership qualifications. She said: “a two-tier system protects the privilege while punishing ordinary people.”

2. John Horan – First time standing for election. An engineer by trade.

Independents

· Taran Clayton - First time standing for election. “I believe in local representation like that of the Chartists who believed in representation for their voice for their community. Like them I believe in representation not policy, not options laid before you to pick and choose from, to divide you, to parties promising change but rather represent your voice and scrutinise on your behalf,” he said.

Brycheiniog Tawe Nedd (Neath, Ystradgynlais)

Conservative and Unionist Party

1. Tyler Chambers – First time standing for election

2. Liz Hill O’Shea – Has worked in community leadership for 20 years. Has stood for election on several occasions in Neath Port Talbot, but not elected.

3. Jane Lyons – Has stood in Parliamentary and local elections. Was previously a councillor in London area. Former CEO of Cancer52. Now lead governor in an NHS Trust.

4. Matthew Gilbert – Worked as a teacher, police response officer, and in residential lettings.

5. Hannah Jarvis – Stood twice as a candidate to be Gwent’s police and crime commissioner. Former deputy chair of Monmouthshire Conservatives. Community councillor. Has historically been part of the Conservative and Unionist Party, but reportedly defected to Reform in August. However, she is running once again as part of the Conservative party in the Senedd election.

6. Amanda Davies – First time standing for election.

Gwlad

1. Philip Owen – First time standing for election. “I joined Gwlad as Brexit made it clear that the UK economy was going to be managed for the benefit of the City of London.”

Heritage Party

1. Jennifer Roberts – First time standing for election.

Green Party

1. Nathan Goldup-John - Neath Port Talbot councillor since 2022.

2. Charlotte Ajomale-Evans – First time standing for election.

3. Amerjit Dhaliwal – Has stood in local election and in the 2024 UK Parliamentary election, but was not elected.

4. Eric Rosoman-Matthews - First time standing for election.

5. Kathy Oakwood – Stood in a local by-election in Neath Porth Talbot in 2024 but was not elected.

6. Imogen Elisabeth da Silva - First time standing for election.

Labour Party

1. Mahaboob Basha – Freelance international business consultant. Chairs Labour’s BAME Committee. Founded the Sketty Youth Club. Stood for a 2022 local election and the 2021 Senedd elections but was not elected.

2. Alex Sims – Neath Port Talbot councillor. Currently words for MS Jenny Rathbone. Formerly the Head of Policy for Wales for Union Cymru.

3. Sarah Amber Thomas – Neath Port Talbot councillor. Shadow Cabinet Member for Finance, Performance, and Social Justice.

4. Elliot Wigfall - First time standing for election. Community councillor and trade union representative.

5. Cyriac George - First time standing for election.

6. Chelsea Edwards - First time standing for election.

Liberal Democrats

1. Jane Dodds - Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats since 2017. Elected as MP for Brecon and Radnorshire at the seat’s 2019 by-election, but was an MP for only three months before being defeated in the general election later the same year. In May 2021, elected MS for mid and West Wales. Has secured additional funding for dentists and campaigned against cuts to local public services.

2. Jackie Charlton – Powys councillor. Non-Executive Director of Powys NHS Trust from 2000-2003. Has been Vice Chair of the Trust and Local Health Board.

3. Phoebe Jenkins – Previously stood in the 2024 UK Parliamentary elections but was not elected. As a working mother, wants to lift barriers preventing families from accessing childcare.

4. Will Lloyd – Stood for local election in 2022 but was not elected.

5. Peter Chapman – Worked in the manufacturing and travel industry, and then spent 19 years volunteering to support criminal and family justice systems and the school admission process.

6. Dylan Calved - First time standing for election.

Plaid Cymru

1. Sioned Williams – MS for South Wales West since 2021. Plaid Cymru’s spokesperson for Social Justice and Early Years. Has said she has helped achieve a fairer Wales by expanding free childcare and tackling child poverty. Formerly a BBC journalist.

2. Rebeca Phillips – Neath Port Talbot councillor. Chair of the Education, Skills, and Wellbeing committee.

3. Andrew Jenkins – Previously served as a Neath Port Talbot councillor. Has held policy and research roles within Age Cymru.

4. Justin Horrell – Stood in the 2022 local elections but was not elected. IT consultant. Town councillor.

5. Kate Heneghan – Stood in the 2017 UK Parliamentary general election but was not elected.

6. Chris Williams – Neath Port Talbot councillor.

Reform UK

1. James Evans – Previously part of the Conservative and Unionist Party who defected to Reform. Was sacked by Welsh Conservative leader Darren Millar after he reportedly said he had spoken to Reform UK about joining the party. But the Reform leader said he had not spoken to Evans personally. Previously representing the Welsh Conservative Party as MS for Brecon and Radnorshire, he is not listed as “not affiliated to a political group” on the Senedd directory, and is now standing in the 2026 Senedd election for Reform UK.

2. Iain McIntosh – Powys councillor. Previously part of the Conservative and Unionist Party but defected to Reform UK for the Senedd 2026 elections.

3. David Mills - First time standing for election.

4. Moira Charles - First time standing for election.

5. Dewi Thomas - First time standing for election.

6. Celfyn Furlong – Previously stood twice for local elections representing the Conservative and Unionist Party but defected to Reform UK for the Ynys Gybi ward in a by-election in February 2026. He was sacked from the Welsh Conservative shadow cabinet and had the whip withdrawn.

The Christian Party

1. Jeff Green - Leader of the Welsh Christian Party. Stood for several elections since 2010, but has not been elected. In 2014, he and his wife Sue were accused of discrimination when they refused a gay couple a double room.

2. Sue Green – Suspected to be the wife of Jeff Green

Independents

· Dai Richards – Stood in the 2024 UK Parliamentary elections representing Reform UK, but was not elected.

· Beverley Baynham – Powys councillor.

· Joe Hale – Swansea councillor. Previously representing the Labour Party prior to running in the 2026 Senedd election as Independent.

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Today begins our guide to the 2026 Senedd election. Over the next two editions, we will give you a list all the candidates in the south Wales valleys, with as much detail about each that we could find. Today, we’ll be looking at Afan Ogwr Rhondda, Pontypridd Cynon Merthyr, and Blaenau Gwent Caerffili Rhymni.

The guide is below, but first, we wanted to let you know we are hoping to continue to build a community of readers in the south Wales valleys, and you would be doing local journalism a massive favour by reading, and then sharing these newsletters on your social media feeds, or just sending them to people you think might be interested.

If you’re enjoying and/or finding these newsletters helpful and informative, we’d love you to keep joining us every week by subscribing (there are free and paid options). And if you want to receive our exclusive reporting in full, there is just a small yearly fee (more on that below).

Thanks for reading, and thanks to everyone who has been in touch thus far with story tips. Rest assured, if you come to me with a story, discretion can be guaranteed. We’d love you to get in touch at valleys@thelead.uk or via Bluesky or Instagram with any stories you might have for us.

If you haven’t subscribed yet, please do so below! We’d be over the moon if you financially supported local journalism by paying just a small yearly amount when you subscribe.

We’d love you to subscribe. There are free and paid options available.

Subscribe now

We’d love you to subscribe to support local journalism in the south Wales valleys (free and paid subscriptions available!).

If you want to support The Valleys Lead, it’s free to subscribe. Paid subscribers get a bit more for only £4.99 a month, or £49 a year.

It’s also free to share. And it would be a hugely appreciated if you did share The Valleys Lead with all your friends, acquaintances, and colleagues. Thank you!

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The Valleys Briefing

(A little round-up of some stories in brief from our valleys.)

• Nigel Farage and Reform UK’s Wales leader Dan Thomas visited the south Wales valleys on Thursday and Friday, speaking with locals and reporters. He stood beneath a statue of Keir Hardie as part of his visit. There were and are mixed responses to his visit on social media, some welcoming, some opposed. While on the visit, Farage visited a local Welsh cafe, and the visit lost the cafe owner thousands of followers on social media in response. In response, the owner said: “I wasn’t meant to endorse Reform. I wasn’t meant to endorse Nigel Farage or any of his strategies. My political views are not important – I don’t actually have any. I run a hospitality company — no time to have any.”

• John Pritchard owns a car dealership, Riverbank Car Sales in Treforest, which has been in existence for the last 50 years. Now he faces his business having to close because a new hydroelectric scheme planned on the River Taff would require the demolition of his garage for it to go ahead. The scheme would provide electricity for the Lido in Pontypridd. He said the council had been vague with him when it approached him, and had not committed to anything in terms of an offer. “I am a one man band. It is everything I’ve got. It is my livelihood. They (the council) are leaving me high and dry. It is my only source of income. I literally don’t know what to do.”

• Pontypridd could become the UK’s town of culture in two years. Rhondda Cynon Taf Council and Pontypridd Town Council are expected to submit an expression of interest to the UK Government’s Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) competition for Pontypridd to be the UK Town of Culture in 2028.

  The competition aims to spotlight the cultural contribution of towns to the national story. The winning town will be awarded £3 million to deliver a cultural programme in 2028 of around six months and the two finalists will receive £250,000 each to deliver elements of their bid.

Who are the candidates for each party in the south Wales valleys?

With the Senedd election coming up on 7 May, The Valleys Lead is dedicating our next two editions to being a one-stop-shop for readers to find out who is running for each party.

There have been, as you’ll know, some major changes to devolved elections in Wales. Constituency boundaries have changed, as has the voting system and the number of politicians who will be elected.

There will be sixteen constituencies throughout Wales, and each will elect six Senedd Members. Instead of the current 60 Senedd members, there will be 96. You will no longer have two votes for a constituency and regional member, but one vote for a party or independent candidate you want to represent your constituency in the Senedd.

If a party wins enough votes, they will win one or more seats in the Senedd. So, for example, if a party wins three seats in a constituency, the top three people on their list will become Members for that area. If an independent candidate wins enough votes, they will also win a seat in the Senedd for their constituency.

The seats will be allocated based on the share of votes each party or independent candidate gets. So, if Party A gets 50% of the votes in a constituency, they will likely get three of the six seats. If Party B gets 30%, they will likely get two of the six seats. If an independent candidate has enough votes, they will also win a seat.

To vote, you’ll need to register in advance (hopefully, you’ve already done this). You’ll get a poll card in the post which will tell you where to go to vote (your polling station) on the day of the election). You do not need to bring ID when you vote in a Senedd election. At your polling station you will be given a ballot paper and will have one vote for the party or independent candidate you want to represent you in the Senedd. Your ballot paper will show the full list of candidates in your constituency, so you can still see who is standing for election.

To avoid total overwhelm, we’ve just focused on the candidates from three constituencies for today, and will finish off the list on Sunday.

You’ll notice that for some candidates, we couldn’t find much information at all. Please do get in touch with us if you have any details about a candidate we can weave in, and we’ll update our list.

Today, we’ll be looking at Afan Ogwr Rhondda, Pontypridd Cynon Merthyr, and Blaenau Gwent Caerffili Rhymni.

Afan Ogwr Rhondda (Treorchy, Tonypandy)

Conservative and Unionist Party

1. Abigail Mainon – A Conservative Party worker who reportedly lives in Bodelwyddan, Denbighshire.

2. Peter Crocker-Jacques – Has stood in three elections since 2016, and has yet to be elected.

3. Anthony John Kear – A Monmouthshire Councillor

4. William Robert Martin

5. Rachel Astle – A former member of staff to Dr James Davies when he was an MP. She lives in Prestatyn, North Wales.

6. Barbara Elizabeth Jones

Green Party

1. Nigel Pugh - For the past two decades Nigel has been politically campaigning both on social and environmental justices issues, both voluntarily and professionally in Wales. This is his first election. He believes that empowering community wealth, their wellbeing and cohesion, and assisting the public to restore their natural environment is key to our collective, positive future.

2. Anna Tuney

3. Stephanie Woodhouse – Ran in the 2024 by-election for Briton Ferry East, but wasn’t elected.

4. David Wade

5. Abby Rees

6. Ellis Thomas

Heritage Party

1. Kimberly Isherwood – Said her party is new, but it’s the “party of integrity.” “Anyone telling you their party is honest & for the people, have been manipulated or they are liars,” she said on Facebook. “Either way that’s not my problem because my job is to expose the parties and share with you the reality of challenging the government.”

2. Logan Jenkins – Said that “as an individual concerned about the actions of his own government, and its carelessness towards the wishes of the people, my only course of action is to learn, learn how it works, learn why it works and most importantly, learn why it hasn’t been working and why the change we so desperately need has never happened.”

Labour Party

1. Huw Irranca-Davies – A former MP and current MS for Ogmore. Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs.

2. Buffy Williams – A current MS for Rhondda since beating former Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood in 2021. Prior to politics, she worked in the voluntary sector, has been awarded the British Empire Medal for her services to Rhondda communities, and been awarded the Pride of Wales Award for her voluntary work in Rhondda communities.

3. David Rees – Has been the Deputy Presiding Officer of the Senedd since 2021. He has served as an MS for Aberavon since 2011. Advocates for steelworkers, sitting on the current TATA Transition Board and chairing the Cross-Party Groups on Steel, Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine (STEMM) and Cancer. He is the current Chair of the Scrutiny of the First Minister and Member Accountability Bill committees.

4. Stephanie Grimshaw – Aberavon Councillor. Advocate against violence against women and girls.

5. Lisa Pritchard – A Bridgend councillor with a strong local government background.

6. Elaine Denise Winstanley

7. Dilwar Ali

8. Tamasree Mukhopad Hyay

Liberal Democrats

1. Dean Ronan – Teacher supporting children in residential care and rugby coach. Priorities are clear: giving our communities a stronger local voice, ensuring no area is left behind, and empowering people through education, wellbeing, and opportunity.

2. Cen Phillips – Neath Port Talbot Councillor since 2022. Cabinet member for nature, tourism and wellbeing.

3. Gerald Francis

4. Helen Thomas - Chair of Governors at a Primary school and a parent governor at a secondary school.

5. Jim Hehir

6. James McGetrrick

Plaid Cymru

1. Sera Evans – A local councillor for Treorchy. An Oxford graduate in modern languages and linguistics. She chairs the Education and Inclusion Scrutiny Committee and serves on key panels covering scrutiny, governor appointments and child poverty. Associate director of UK student recruitment and admissions at the University of South Wales. She is vice-chair of governors at two Rhondda schools, continuing her commitment to supporting young people and families.

2. Alun Cox – Lives in Porth. A trade unionist working as Unison’s deputy branch secretary and is a governor at two Rhondda schools. He’s an experienced campaigner, and Plaid Cymru member for 45 years.

3. Elyn Stephens - At 25, she was elected to RCT Council, where she led the campaign to secure free period products in schools. She’s worked in frontline public services at the DWP. She has worked for both an MEP and an MS

4. Danny Grehan – Rhondda Cynon Taff Councillor. Works as a community contact officer for Heledd Fychan MS.

5. Luned-Mair Barratt

6. Wendy Allsop

Reform UK

1. Benjamin Hodge McKenna – Has said new “safer” technologies could be used to extract Welsh coal which is of the “highest quality.” Although he said he understands the concerns about climate change, emissions that are produced in Wales on a global scale “are absolutely minuscule” meaning any changes would have “virtually no impact”.

2. Steve Bayliss - Chair of Reform’s Aberafan Maesteg, Rhondda and Ogmore branch, Steve was originally set to stand in third place on the party’s list in Pontypridd Cynon Merthyr but is now Reform’s number two candidate in Afan Ogwr Rhondda.

3. Darren James – Ran in the 2024 general election and was not elected.

4. Louise Musgrave

5. Catrin Thomas – Has previously said immigration was “much more of an issue” in England. Has spoken of freezing non-essential immigration, but said there would be exceptions in healthcare.

6. Zak Weaver - was elected to Penarth Town Council in a by-election on February 19 after defecting from the Welsh Conservatives to Reform just days before the vote. Due to the timing of his defection, Mr Weaver still appeared as the Conservative candidate on the official ballot paper.

Independents

• Captain Beany – A charity fundraiser in Sandfields, Port Talbot, South Wales. His manifesto: The people of Wales deserve more than to be subjected to external imported baked bean products. I have decided that if I am duly elected, I shall commandeer the entire Senedd Building to be converted into a fully functional ‘Baked Bean Canning Installation’ and in the process, ensure that this country shall solely feast on Welsh baked beans! DON’T BE MEANY! VOTE FOR BEANY

Pontypridd Cynon Merthyr (Pontypridd, Merthyr Tydfil, Aberdare, Mountain Ash, Abercynon)

Conservative and Unionist Party

1. Adam Robinson – Llantrisant Councillor. Engineer by trade.

2. David Jones – Said he would scrap the 20MPH limit, fix services, and give the valleys a voice.

3. Roxanne Rees

4. Lee Davies

5. Oliver Morgan

6. Jayne McKenna – Monmouthshire Councillor.

Green Party

1. Angela Karadog – Cilfynydd Councillor who have lived in Pontypridd since 2004. Previously a teacher and manager of education research company.

2. James Bennett

3. John Dane

4. Georgina Budd – A doctor who has raised awareness about disability issues following a car crash that resulted in full time wheelchair use.

5. Zara Siddique

6. Jeffrey Baxter

Gwlad

1. Stefan Morgan – First-time candidate. Spend seven years as RAF electrical engineer. His statement: I bring a varied career background to my candidacy, ranging from seven years as an RAF electrical engineer, and a year spent in Australia doing farm work and bar work. I’ve also helped build the new Ajax army scout vehicle and am now working as an aircraft electrical fitter. I support GWLAD because they hold the same core values as myself.

Heritage Party

1. Julie Lloyd

Labour Party

1. Vikki Howells – MS for the Cynon Valley since 2016 and Minister for Further and Higher Education. In the Senedd, has chaired committees, cross-party groups and the Welsh Labour group of MSs.

2. Lloyd Watkins - Worked as a civil servant for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. Completed a PhD on the impact of A.I., Robotics and automation on government.

3. Chris Binding – Has worked as an Rhondda Cynon Taf Councillor, a trade union shop steward, a volunteer, and a caseworker for Labour MPs and Senedd members.

4. Mitch Theaker – At the age of 21, elected as a Councillor for the City and County of Swansea. Later appointed as a Cabinet Member in Swansea Council. Former special advisor to Mark Drakeford and Welsh Government diplomat who was shortlisted as a Labour candidate without telling the members he had been appointed the new Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner for South Wales.

5. Mustapha Maohoub – Cwmbach Councillor

6. Anna Williams-Price – Merthyr Tydfil Councillor. Cabinet Member with Portfolio for Financial Sustainability, Assets & Commercial

7. Jane Gebbie – Bridgend Councillor. Cabinet Member Social Services, Health and Wellbeing

Liberal Democrats

1. Neil Feist – Llanharan Councillor since 2022. Has a background in outdoor education.

2. David Seale – Lives in Abercanaid. Became involved with the Liberal Democrats during the Brexit campaign and is passionate about international cooperation, animal welfare, and strengthening local communities. David is particularly committed to tackling littering, antisocial behaviour, and the misuse of off-road motorbikes, and strongly supports greater investment in community policing.

3. Alec Dauncey – Previously ran in the general election for Clwyd East, but wasn’t elected.

4. Nick Beckett – Has ran in the 2024 general election for Caerfyrddin and in the 2022 Carmarthenshire local election. He wasn’t elected.

5. Chris Passmore – Ran in the 2024 general election for Llanelli and in the Carmarthenshire local elections in 2022. He wasn’t elected.

6. Hayden Stephen Matthew Lewis

Plaid Cymru

1. Heledd Fychan – A Welsh politician, who has represented South Wales Central since May 2021. She is a former director of policy and political education for Plaid Cymru, and currently Plaid’s spokesperson on Finance, Culture, Sport and the Welsh Language.

2. Lis McLean – Runs Canolfan Soar in Merthyr Tydfil, home to a number of local Welsh language organisations. Passionate about keeping wealth in local communities.

3. Sara Crowley - Originally from Penrhiwceiber and now living in the Cynon Valley. She’s worked in schools, prisons, and the NHS. An Equal Power Equal Voice graduate dedicated to amplifying the voices of women and marginalized groups.

4. Ian Gwynne – Has campaigned to be elected in the 2021 general election and 2022 in Merthyr Tydfil local election, but was not elected.

5. Farrell Perks – Has a background in journalism, and is a foster carer.

6. Ioan Bellin – Former journalist and office manager for Welsh politicians.

Reform UK

1. Jason O’Connell – Previously an Independent and Conservative Councillor, Jason lives in Torfaen. This has caused a stir among Reform members in Pontypridd Cynon Merthyr, where some see Jason as a candidate who has been parachuted into the constituency because he is favoured by the party leadership. It’s been reported he failed to declare he’s employed by a Senedd Member, Laura Anne Jones. The original plan had been for Andrew Barry to be the first seat for Reform UK, but he pulled out of the election in March, saying the experience had broken his “belief in politics.”

2. David Hughes – A Merthyr Councillor who didn’t appear on the list in March.

3. Mark Lawrence

4. Martin Roberts – Local businessman. Ran for local government seat in Pontypridd Town by-election, but wasn’t elected.

5. John Ball

6. Jamie Loftus – Also didn’t appear on the list of candidates in March

Independents

• Dai Williams – In his 80s. A trained marriage guidance counsellor. He said he has good experience of housing, and assists two local landlords with tenant support in the Merthyr area. Has said he has “become increasingly dissatisfied with the performance of the Senedd as a whole – both Government and Opposition.” He said he will “never surrender principal in favour of dancing to the tune of any party fiddle.”

• Beth Winter – Worked as MP for the Cynon Valley from 2019 to 2024. She has a PhD in disadvantage among older people in rural communities. In 2025, Beth announced support for Zarah Sultana and Jeremy Corbyn’s Your Party, but is no longer apart of the party.

• Joseph Anthony Biddulph

Blaenau Gwent Caerffili Rhymni (Abertillery, Bargoed, Rhymney, Caerphilly)

Conservative and Unionist Party

1. Gareth Potter – Previously worked in the charity sector. Ran in the Caerphilly by-election in 2025, but was not elected.

2. Janet Elizabeth Butler – Monmouthshire Councillor from 2022.

3. John Child – Ran in the 2022 Caerphilly local election and was not elected.

4. David John West

5. Martin Newell– Monmouthshire Councillor since 2024.

6. Fay Bromfield – Monmouthshire Councillor since 2022. Organised a petition opposing a 304-acre solar farm on the grounds of losing agricultural land.

Green Party

1. Anne Baker – A lifelong campaigner and former trade unionist. Ran in the general election in 2024 but was not elected.

2. Alexis Celnik – Ran in the Caerphilly local election in 2022, but wasn’t elected.

3. Rachel Roberts

4. Hannah Garcia

5. Aidan Dempsey

6. Jamie Payne

Gwlad

Heritage Party

1. Jared Burgess – Promises to “question large-scale energy developments that impact landscape,” and to not use taxes “for items that invest support to foreign belligerent nations. No to foreign involvement in conflicts that don’t matter to us.” He aspires to be a citizen journalist, and writes on the intersections of shamanism and Christianity.

Labour Party

1. Alun Davies – MS for Blaenau Gwent since 2011, and formerly Mid and West Wales from 2007 to 2011. He has served in several Welsh government offices, including Cabinet Secretary for Local Government and Public Services, Minister for Lifelong Learning and Welsh Language, and Minister for Natural Resources and Food. He also worked in the energy sector, nuclear industry and TV before establishing his own business before being elected. Has spoken honestly about Labour’s shortcomings and what they must do turn things around.

2. Richard Tunnicliffe – Founded a Welsh language publishing company with his wife, and was worked as a banker and chartered accountant. Ran in the Caerphilly by-election in 2025 but was not elected.

3. Keiran Russell – A business leader and manager who “has supported thousands of local people to start and grow businesses in the last 10 years.”

4. Sara Beard – Ran in the 2022 Merthyr Tydfil local elections but was not elected.

5. Simon Dancey

6. John Pettit – Caerphilly Councillor

7. Hero Marsden

Liberal Democrats

1. Steve Aicheler – A small business owner education enterprise specialist. Caerphilly Councillor. Said that through his “involvement in entrepreneurship and innovation” he understands the importance of listening to customers and he would apply this design thinking methodology in government to develop public services which are efficient and effective. “I know that I don’t know everything, and therefore that as a politician I have to listen to those who have more experience than I do.”

2. David Scullin

3. Catherine Dowden-King

4. Steve Lloyd – Ran in the 2022 Caerphilly local election but was not elected. Works as Secretary of his local Welsh Liberal Democrat party.

5. Ivan William Westley

6. Juliet Price – Has worked as a case officer for a Liberal Democrat MP. Previously ran for Ceredigion local election but was not elected.

Plaid Cymru

1. Delyth Jewell – In 2014, she won the ‘Researcher of the Year’ Award for her work in paving the way for legislation on stalking and coercive control. She later worked for Citizens’ Advice and Action Aid. MS for South Wales East since 2019. Party spokesperson on climate change, transport and energy.

2. Lindsey Whittle – Former housing manager. Former leader of Caerphilly County Borough Council. An MS between May 2011 and April 2016, October 2025 and April 2026.

3. Niamh Ffion Mai Salkeld – University degree in international politics, and political researcher for social justice, education, and the arts. Her campaign priorities focus on tackling child poverty, supporting people through the cost-of-living crisis, reducing the attainment gap and improving prosperity across Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney.

4. Catrin Moss

5. Charlotte Bishop

6. Steven Skivens

Reform UK

1. Lllŷr Powell – Has worked in political communications and public affairs. Has been active in UKIP, the Brexit Party, and now Reform UK. Reported to have previously been part of Young Independence, which has multiple links to the far-right. While he was head of communications and engagement at Scouts Cymru, Lllŷr was investigated for sharing posts that were anti-trans, homophobic, and politically biased.

2. Catherine Cullen – Has said she backs Reform UK because they are the party that puts the country first. She stood as a Reform UK candidate in 2024 Derbyshire elections, and finished third.

3. Joshua Kim – Works as a teacher in Cardiff. Said that “as a non-white immigrant Reform MP, my very existence would nullify the fallacious argument that being anti-mass immigration is racist. Immigration is too high. And no: immigrants are not all doctors and engineers. Our public services clearly cannot cope. It is plain common sense that any government should put its own citizens first.”

4. Jonathan Parker – Ran in the Caerphilly local elections for the Conservative and Unionist Party in 2022, but wasn’t elected.

5. Glenda Davies – Has previously stood for UKIP and the Brexit Party in 2016, 2017, 2019, and 2021, but has not been elected.

6. Barclay Nickels

Open Party

1. Karen Horan

Independents

• Mike Whatley – Ran in the general election in 2024 but was not elected. “Free from the constraints of a party whip, I will be answerable only to you, the people who live and work in this region.”

• Jordan Brace – Former NHS staff who has said he gives more than 30 hours a week to helping local residents.·

• Steve Wright

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Today, we’ve got a story for you from Glyncoch, near Pontypridd, about the expansion of a quarry less than 200 metres away from a small, financially-deprived village. Despite months of protest, the expansion started in 2024, and residents have said their health and wellbeing has suffered as a result.

The story is below, but first, we wanted to let you know we are hoping to continue to build a community of readers in the south Wales valleys, and you would be doing local journalism a massive favour by reading, and then sharing these newsletters on your social media feeds, or just sending them to people you think might be interested.

If you’re enjoying and/or finding these newsletters helpful and informative, we’d love you to keep joining us every week by subscribing (there are free and paid options). And if you want to receive our exclusive reporting in full, there is just a small yearly fee (more on that below).

Thanks for reading, and thanks to everyone who has been in touch thus far with story tips. Rest assured, if you come to me with a story, discretion can be guaranteed. We’d love you to get in touch at valleys@thelead.uk or via Bluesky or Instagram with any stories you might have for us.

If you haven’t subscribed yet, please do so below! We’d be over the moon if you financially supported local journalism by paying just a small yearly amount when you subscribe.

We’d love you to subscribe to support local journalism in the south Wales valleys (free and paid subscriptions available!).

If you want to support The Valleys Lead, it’s free to subscribe. Paid subscribers get a bit more for only £4.99 a month, or £49 a year.

It’s also free to share. And it would be a hugely appreciated if you did share The Valleys Lead with all your friends, acquaintances, and colleagues. Thank you!

Share

The Valleys Briefing

(A little round-up of some stories in brief from our valleys.)

• Nelson councillor Brenda Miles has resigned from the Labour Party, nearly a year after being frozen out after she objected to Caerphilly Council’s library closure plans. She said she had been waiting ten months for an appeal hearing she claimed should have been convened within two weeks. Miles criticised the decision to push ahead with cost-cutting proposals to close down ten libraries across the borough, and was promptly kicked off council committees and had the Labour whip removed. In a Facebook post explaining her decision to ultimately quit the party, she said delays to her appeal were “taking the proverbial” and had “dragged on for far too long”. Backers of the library closures argue the shake-up will lead to a better service for the borough’s residents, who will be able to access a wider range of council and other services at fewer “hubs” located in larger towns.

  But critics say closing “vital” smaller libraries will cut off communities in smaller villages.

• The race for the Senedd is on. The final lists of candidates in the south Wales valleys (and Wales as a whole) have been published, ready for the elections taking place on Thursday, May 7. Look out for The Valleys Lead explainer of representatives in each party in the next two weeks.

• A petition to conduct a feasibility study with regard to reopening Nelson railway station has nearly 400 signatures. The petition’s author explained the reason why Nelson residents request a feasibility study: “As a first step, an option to create an express bus service to the nearby railway stations should be explored. The line, which was used by freight trains until recently, runs between Ystrad Mynach railway station and Merthyr Tydfil, passing through Nelson, Trelewis, and Bedlinog. Connecting Nelson to the network would make sense and would ease the pressure on our busy roads.” The petition has been briefly suspended in the lead up to the Senedd Election.

Glyncoch voices ‘haven’t been heard’ in quarry expansion controversy

Midday on Monday, residents of Glyncoch, near Pontypridd, heard and felt a blast from a quarry less than 200 metres away.

“The blast was horrendous,” Chris Whiles, a resident and father of three young children living in Glyncoch for the last 15 years, told The Valleys Lead. “But it’s nothing new. This has been an ongoing issue for years.”

When Chris moved to the small village, one of the 5% most deprived areas in Wales, he remembers often hearing a “rumble” and a “bang” accompanied by dust in the air.

He quickly came to find out it was coming from Craig Yr Hesg quarry, just a ten-minute walk from his house.

In 2022, Craig Yr Hesg quarry (in operation since 1949) was given the green light for further expansion by Welsh Ministers, after Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council (RCTCBC) rejected the expansion twice due to concerns about the community’s wellbeing.

When expansion began in 2024, residents rallied together to protest against the expansion of the quarry, citing concerns that while planning regulations identified a buffer of 200 metres being a suitable minimum distance between quarries and residential areas, this quarry’s expansion would bring the work only 109 metres from the nearest property.

“The blasts would get bigger and bigger,” Chris said. “They’d be closer to our primary school (only 134 metres) and the rest of our community.”

Residents were scared about the toll further expansion would have on their mental and physical health, their homes, and their access to green spaces.

Before the expansion, Chris recalls going up into the mountains regularly. “There were huge, historical trees on the mountain,” Chris said. “But in February 2024, the operators started erecting fencing where we all go to walk, where the trees were. We haven’t got much here, so this green space means a lot to us.”

Residents set up a camp outside the gates to the quarry, not allowing operators access. “These protests lasted for three days, day and night,” Chris said. “It was a peaceful protest, but there was so much passion from the people there.”

An enforcement agency was hired by quarry operator Heidelberg Materials to issue warrants for protestors’ removal, according to Chris. “People were physically dragged off,” Chris recalled.

Fearful but determined, residents continued protesting daily. “The protests continued at the entrance making HGVs come to a standstill for ten minutes each delivery before being allowed in the quarry,” Chris said. “This was approved in person by South Wales Police who attended each day.”

But on 5 June 2024, the mining company “put out a 12-month injunction” to “unknown persons.” This injunction was renewed a year later.

In July 2024 a march was arranged to the RCTCBC head office in Pontypridd with over 250 supporters from the community attending with banners.

And yet, the quarry expanded, and so has the despair of residents.

“When there is a blast, windows are rocking, dust is everywhere,” Chris said.

Kids, including Chris’s, ask their parents: “Is my school going to fall down?”

“It has caused COPD and cancer,” Chris said. “But we can’t pinpoint it’s 100% caused by the quarry.”

Residents gathered samples from several locations for testing at a regulated laboratory, and revealed the samples contained crystalline silica, also known as quartz.

Heavy and prolonged exposure to respirable crystalline silica can cause serious respiratory diseases.

“All the lorry drivers have masks when they come in – they’re protected,” Chris said. “They have their wheel washers on to make sure the dust doesn’t follow when they come out of the quarry. But then you’ve what looks like a nuclear bomb – a mushroom cloud – going up into our village.”

Despite their concerns and their protests, the blasts continue in Glyncoch.

Read more

Thanks as always for joining us this week. Today, we are telling you another story of another hospital struggling under a crumbling NHS. This isn’t the fault of nurses or doctors tirelessly doing their best for patients, but of an overstretched system that needs reform.

The story is below, but first, we just wanted to say thanks for joining us again this week. If you’re enjoying and/or finding these newsletters helpful and informative, we’d love you to keep joining us every week by subscribing (it’s free!). And if you want to receive our exclusive reporting in full, there is just a small yearly fee (more on that below).

We are hoping to continue to build a community of readers in the south Wales valleys, and you would be doing local journalism a massive favour by sharing these newsletters on your social media feeds, or just sending them to people you think might be interested.

Thanks for reading, and thanks to everyone who has been in touch thus far with story tips. Rest assured, if you come to me with a story, discretion can be guaranteed. We’d love you to get in touch at valleys@thelead.uk or via Bluesky or Instagram with any stories you might have for us.

If you haven’t subscribed yet, please do so below! We’d be over the moon if you financially supported local journalism by paying just a small yearly amount when you subscribe. There’s a sale on right now so seize the day!

Please consider subscribing (there are paid and free options) to support exclusive, local journalism in the south Wales valleys.

Subscribe now

We’d love you to subscribe to support local journalism in the south Wales valleys (free and paid subscriptions available!).

If you want to support The Valleys Lead, it’s free to subscribe. Paid subscribers get a bit more for only £4.99 a month, or £49 a year.

It’s also free to share. And it would be a hugely appreciated if you did share The Valleys Lead with all your friends, acquaintances, and colleagues. Thank you!

Share

The Valleys Briefing

(A little round-up of some stories in brief from our valleys.)

• The RSPCA is looking for information about a dog who was described as “skin and bones” when rescued from a back garden in Merthyr Tydfil. The male lurcher cross was found in a property in Ash Crescent on February 24 by police, rushed to a vets in Bridgend by an RSPCA worker, and received emergency treatment. The lurcher could barely stand up and was chained to a filthy shed. His spine and ribs were visible and he was suffering from a wound to a back foot. The brindle-coloured lurcher, who was not microchipped, was initially treated with fluids and antibiotics. Over the past month the dog, who has been renamed Reggie, has made a good recovery and he has found a loving new home with one of the veterinary nurses that cared for him. The charity is asking that anyone who might know the owner come forward with details. People can contact the RSPCA on 0300 1238018 and quote reference number 01737766.

• The Green Party’s only councillor in Caerphilly has said that the UK should consider making plans for World War II-style rationing of resources in the event of “protracted” hostilities in the Middle East. He made the statement at a council meeting on Tuesday, warning resources were already “becoming more scarce.” The leader of the Council, Jamie Pritchard, said the election period leading up to May 7 would curtail his ability to respond fully, and suggested the matter should be debated when the council convenes again after the Senedd elections.

• The number of cremations held without a ceremony is on the rise in Rhondda Cynon Taf according to a report from the council. The number of “direct” cremations (cremations that takes place with no ceremony and no mourners present) in RCT rose by 43 from 110 in 2023/24 to 153 in 2024/25. In the UK, 20% of bodies are disposed of by direct cremation, with predictions that 50% of the UK population will choose direct cremation within 20 years. 80% of people are cremated in the UK. These statistics suggest that people can’t afford funerals and burials, with a simple funeral service now costing up to nearly £10,000.

Patients are being treated in armchairs for days at Prince Charles Hospital

When Gareth Eife, 69, attended his GP on Tuesday, 17 March for painful cellulitis on his legs and a rash all over his body, the doctor advised him to head to his nearest A&E at Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil. Gareth was told by his GP that he should have a minimum of 48 hours of IV antibiotics.

“Then he waited in A&E, sitting in a hard, broken, metal chair, for 12 hours,” Gareth’s brother-in-law, Paul Smith, told The Valleys Lead. “He was in agony. He told the staff he needed to elevate his legs because the pain was excoriating, but he was told by the nurse on duty that there were no beds, no chairs, no trolleys, and nowhere for him to elevate his legs.”

Paul tried to Gareth help, imploring a nurse for help, but the nurse told Paul: “Don’t blame us – blame the politicians.”

When it came time for Gareth to be seen and treated, there weren’t any available beds to place him in, even though the GP had phoned ahead to ensure a bed would be available for Gareth.

“The hospital has put hand chairs in the back of A&E and treat them as clinical care chairs,” Paul said.

One of these chairs were offered to Gareth, along with 25 other people who he sat alongside.

“Some of them had been in those armchairs for three or four days, and some for just a day,” Paul said. “There were no washing facilities, so they had to use a sink in the toilets. They had no bedding, and people were complaining about needing blankets because they were cold. Their meals were served on paper plates with a wooden spoon and fork, but there were no trays or tables – they had to eat the food on their laps. They were all wearing the same clothes they came in with. The place was filthy with so much rubbish on the floor. They have drip stands and various acute and serious illnesses, but they are being treated in an environment which isn’t conducive to improving care.”

For three days, Gareth sat in the armchair, suffering with lymphedema.

“His legs were purple, filled with liquid that was weeping onto the floor,” Paul said. “He was in absolute agony.”

Gareth’s wife, Jennifer, went to the shop to buy puppy pads to place under Gareth’s legs to stop the water and puss from soaking the floor. When Gareth asked a nurse to put his prescribed cream on his legs, he was told they “weren’t ward nurses,” and that they don’t rub cream or dress wounds.

“It’s a disgrace,” Paul said.

Gareth isn’t the only one who has been treated in armchairs at Prince Charles Hospital.

Read more

Thanks as always for joining us this week. We have a story this week for you about the restoration (or lack of restoration, as you’ll soon find) of an open cast mine in Merthyr Tydfil, Ffos-y-fran. The drama surrounding this story has been going on for years, and last week, it all came to the surface again with new announcement.

The story is below, but first, we just wanted to say thanks for joining us again this week. If you’re enjoying and/or finding these newsletters helpful and informative, we’d love you to keep joining us every week by subscribing (it’s free!). And if you want to receive our exclusive reporting in full, there is just a small yearly fee (more on that below).

We are hoping to continue to build a community of readers in the south Wales valleys, and you would be doing local journalism a massive favour by sharing these newsletters on your social media feeds, or just sending them to people you think might be interested.

Thanks for reading, and thanks to everyone who has been in touch thus far with story tips. Rest assured, if you come to me with a story, discretion can be guaranteed. We’d love you to get in touch at valleys@thelead.uk or via Bluesky or Instagram with any stories you might have for us.

If you haven’t subscribed yet, please do so below! We’d be over the moon if you financially supported local journalism by paying just a small yearly amount when you subscribe. There’s a sale on right now so seize the day!

We’d love you to subscribe to support local journalism in the south Wales valleys (free and paid subscriptions available!).

If you want to support The Valleys Lead, it’s free to subscribe. Paid subscribers get a bit more for only £4.99 a month, or £49 a year.

It’s also free to share. And it would be a hugely appreciated if you did share The Valleys Lead with all your friends, acquaintances, and colleagues. Thank you!

Share

The Valleys Briefing

(A little round-up of some stories in brief from our valleys.)

• As banks across Wales continue to close its doors for in-person banking, a new banking hub in Mountain Ash has opened to protect access to cash for people in the valleys. Customers of all major banks can visit Cash Access UK any weekday between 9am and 5pm to carry out regular transactions. The hub will also include a community banker service for customers to speak in a private space about more complicated issues.

• Wales has one of the lowest employments rates in the UK and is falling further behind. Only 71.4% of 16–64 year olds were in work in 2025, compared to 75.1% across the UK. Employment rates remain lowest in the post-industrial south Wales valleys, and Rhondda Cynon Taf had the lowest estimated employment rate at 67.3%.

• Torfaen council has funded more than £1m in redundancy costs during the past year. The figure includes more than £200,000 spent making seven teachers across Torfaen redundant. The ruling Labour council has been accused of a lack transparency regarding the number of staff it was shedding. The only reason the information came to light was because an Independent councillor, Giles Davies, had asked for the number of staff made redundant, and the cost to the public purse. “I was shocked to see how much was spent on laying staff members off,” Davies said.

Why isn’t Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council holding a mining company to account?

Driving into Merthyr Tydfil from Abergavenny, you’ll spot the remnants of the UK’s last opencast mine – Ffos-y-fran. The mine once covered over 360 hectares and was 200 metres deep.

Back in 2003, the land was classified by the Merthyr Tydfil local authority as dangerous and derelict.

“Apparently, legislation dictated that the land had to be made safe,” Chris Austin, who lives near the mine and has campaigned against its continued operation for years with his wife Alyson, told The Valleys Lead.

“The residents were told that the work had to be done, but that the money wasn’t within the local authority to carry it out. The Local Authority claimed that it would bankrupt the authority if they had to pay for it, and if they were to pass those costs onto local residents, each household would have to pay a £900 fee on top of their council tax.”

The only other option was to bring in a private company to mine coal at the site and to sell the coal to pay for the reclamation costs, with any remaining money to be the company’s profit.

“The primary reason it would be mined would be to deliver the reclamation of the site and make the site safe and usable for public amenity and grazing,” Chris said. “It was a land reclamation scheme first and foremost.”

The private company that gained planning permission in 2005 to mine the coal with the promise of the full restoration of the land was initially Miller Argent (South Wales) Ltd. Under original proposals, Chris said that “whatever the cost” to reclaim and restore the land, the mining company would be liable to pay for it. The reclamation and restoration work was a continuous process that would have a final restoration phase starting at the end of the contract in September 2022.

The Welsh Government estimated the cost would be £50-£60 million to restore the land after mining, but figures of anywhere between £75 Million to £125 Million have been used by the company and government departments as the final restoration cost.

In late 2015, Merthyr South Wales Ltd accepted this restoration commitment when it took over operations at the site.

Read more

Thanks as always for joining us this week. Access to clean water is a human right. Yes? But for residents in Penderyn, in the Cynon valley, water hasn’t felt like a human right they’re entitled to. Even though their Welsh Water bills are going up, for the last two years, they’ve often not had any water, or had cloudy water with bits of mud in it. We spoke to residents and the councillors who represent them to find out what’s been going on.

The story is below, but first, we just wanted to say thanks for joining us again this week. If you’re enjoying and/or finding these newsletters helpful and informative, we’d love you to keep joining us every week by subscribing (it’s free!). And if you want to receive our exclusive reporting in full, there is just a small yearly fee (more on that below).

We are hoping to continue to build a community of readers in the south Wales valleys, and you would be doing local journalism a massive favour by sharing these newsletters on your social media feeds, or just sending them to people you think might be interested.

Thanks for reading, and thanks to everyone who has been in touch thus far with story tips. Rest assured, if you come to me with a story, discretion can be guaranteed. We’d love you to get in touch at valleys@thelead.uk or via Bluesky or Instagram with any stories you might have for us.

If you haven’t subscribed yet, please do so below! We’d be over the moon if you financially supported local journalism by paying just a small yearly amount when you subscribe. There’s a sale on right now so seize the day!

We’d love you to subscribe to support local journalism in the south Wales valleys (free and paid subscriptions available!).

If you want to support The Valleys Lead, it’s free to subscribe. Paid subscribers get a bit more for only £4.99 a month, or £49 a year - but we’ve got a St David’s Day treat for you as we now have 30% off if you subscribe during March. We are keeping this offer active for today but it will expire at the end of the 1 April.

Some our exclusive reporting will be just for paying subscribers. We don’t have ads, we don’t do clickbait and all of our reporting is done right here in the valleys. If you sign up right now, you get 30% off your subscription forever - whether you pay annually or monthly. We believe journalism done properly is worth paying for and we hope you can support us.

It’s also free to share. And it would be a hugely appreciated if you did share The Valleys Lead with all your friends, acquaintances, and colleagues. Thank you!

Share

The Valleys Briefing

(A little round-up of some stories in brief from our valleys.)

🏠 Housing association Wales and West Housing has submitted formal plans to replace a nursery and a former bingo hall in Ystrad Mynach with 24 flats. The firm argues there is a shortage of affordable housing in the town, and demolishing the buildings in Bedwlwyn Road would provide an “immediate opportunity to provide much-needed” homes. Some residents have criticised the plans for a lack of off-street parking spaces, and said the redevelopment would worsen parking problems in the surrounding area. Around 50 people attended a residents’ meeting in January to voice their concerns, including claims it is “naïve” for the developer to think local streets could accommodate vehicles for 24 new homes.

🎭 A local council has now officially taken over ownership of a much loved arts and cultural venue in a Welsh town centre. In a statement Merthyr Tydfil Council has confirmed that it is now the owner of the Redhouse building which was previously owned by Merthyr Tydfil Housing Association. In January, councillors voted in favour of bringing the building back into council hands. The building has been closed since 2024 after Merthyr Tydfil Housing Association was unable to carry out a transfer of the building from the former leisure trust. In April 2024, Merthyr Tydfil’s leisure and cultural services returned to council control from the trust with the Redhouse set to return to its owner’s Merthyr Tydfil Housing Association. But the housing association said it was unable to gain detailed information from the leisure trust to allow it to understand the full liabilities that would likely transfer. As a result the decision was taken to close the building, but at a full council meeting on Wednesday, January 14 this year councillors unanimously voted to bring the Redhouse back into council ownership.

🚆 More than £5m has been awarded to transport projects across one Welsh county. Rhondda Cynon Taf Council has confirmed the funding from Welsh Government for a wide range of transport projects in 2026/27 to support improvements to highways, public transport, active travel and road safety. The funding for RCT schemes totals over £5 million which will go towards major future transport schemes, local active travel improvements, safe routes in communities, road safety initiatives and better public transport connections. The Welsh Government funding is delivered via Cardiff Capital Region Regional Transport Fund 2026/27, and includes: £2.01 million to continue to develop the Cynon Gateway Link Road in the north of the Cynon Valley, improving connectivity between the A4059 and the A465, easing local transport pressures and supporting longer-term economic growth in the area. Also included is £1.369m for Porth park and ride phase three supporting the next phase of extra parking linked to the Porth Transport Hub and wider South Wales Metro improvements in a bid to make it easier for people to combine car, rail and bus journeys.

As Welsh Water bills rise, service declines

Over the last two years, Rebecca Griffiths has often turned on her tap to find that the water is either coming out incredibly slow, is grey in colour, has bits of mud in it, or the worst-case scenario – no water at all runs out.

“We’ve been told it is because the pump for all of Penderyn is old and needs to be changed,” Rebecca, 41, told The Valleys Lead.

Residents in Penderyn complain to Welsh Water every time it happens – often monthly – but are just told that “there isn’t an issue.”

Rebecca has two children and they refuse to drink the water when it comes out cloudy. She was advised by Welsh Water that the “cloudiness” was just air in the water, and it would clear if left long enough.

“He [the man from Welsh Water] said we could drink it, but it doesn’t taste right,” she said. “I keep bottled water so that we always have a supply when the water isn’t working.”

Even though the service Welsh Water provides to Penderyn is sub-par, residents have been receiving notice of increasing bills. In January 2025, Rebecca was paying £57 per month, and by October 2025, this figure rose to £93 per month.

“How can they justify the rise?” she asked. “It’s so frustrating for everybody.”

Natalie Noble is another resident and business owner heavily impacted by the “water issue” in Penderyn. Natalie runs The Red Lion Inn, a much-loved, family-run inn and restaurant in Penderyn.

“Whenever the water goes off, we’re the first to find out,” Natalie told The Valleys Lead.

Read more

You’ll surely have seen quite a lot of negativity about asylum seekers and refugees from both the media and politicians in recent months. Into this, we want to inject positivity, fact, and hope, all of which you’ll find in today’s story about a Ukrainian refugee in Neath who has opened a beloved Ukrainian restaurant in the south Wales valleys.

The story is below, but first, we just wanted to say thanks for joining us again this week. If you’re enjoying and/or finding these newsletters helpful and informative, we’d love you to keep joining us every week by subscribing (it’s free!). And if you want to receive our exclusive reporting in full, there is just a small yearly fee (more on that below).

We are hoping to continue to build a community of readers in the south Wales valleys, and you would be doing local journalism a massive favour by sharing these newsletters on your social media feeds, or just sending them to people you think might be interested.

Thanks for reading, and thanks to everyone who has been in touch thus far with story tips. Rest assured, if you come to me with a story, discretion can be guaranteed. We’d love you to get in touch at valleys@thelead.uk or via Bluesky or Instagram with any stories you might have for us.

If you haven’t subscribed yet, please do so below! We’d be over the moon if you financially supported local journalism by paying just a small yearly amount when you subscribe. There’s a sale on right now so seize the day!

We’d love you to subscribe to support local journalism in the south Wales valleys (free and paid subscriptions available!).

If you want to support The Valleys Lead, it’s free to subscribe. Paid subscribers get a bit more for only £4.99 a month, or £49 a year - but we’ve got a St David’s Day treat for you as we now have 30% off if you subscribe during March. More details below.

Some our exclusive reporting will be just for paying subscribers. We don’t have ads, we don’t do clickbait and all of our reporting is done right here in the valleys. If you sign up right now, you get 30% off your subscription forever - whether you pay annually or monthly. We believe journalism done properly is worth paying for and we hope you can support us.

Subscribe now

It’s also free to share. And it would be a hugely appreciated if you did share The Valleys Lead with all your friends, acquaintances, and colleagues. Thank you!

Share

The Valleys Briefing

(A little round-up of some stories in brief from our valleys.)

• A court has heard a mum was ignored after reporting being in pain and vomiting during the induced birth of her son who died at just four days old at the Grange University Hospital in Cwmbran in November 2024. An inquest has just opened into the child’s death, and thus far, it has been heard that the mother had been told she was “making a big fuss about nothing.” “If they [the midwives] had listened, instead of ignoring my requests for help, it’s possible Jac would still be alive today.”

• In Caerphilly, new plans have been submitted to convert a house into a three-bedroom house in multiple occupancy (HMO). In past months, we’ve seen planning for HMOs around the valleys submitted and rejected following an outcry from surrounding residents. But as the amount of social housing doesn’t meet demand, the question remains: Where will people be housed if there is no where to house them?

• Members of Reform UK warned of growing “chaos” as sources say the selections for the Senedd election have been “disastrous.” In the south Wales valleys, Andrew Barry, an Independent Merthyr Tydfil councillor was in the running to stand as a candidate in the Pontypridd Cynon Merthyr seat, but confirmed that he had pulled out after he was told that Jason O’Connell would be the number one candidate on Reform’s list for the constituency. O’Connell is a councillor in Torfaen, rather than a local in the constituency he will be representing.

A Ukrainian restaurant brings “hope” to locals in Neath

In 2023, Volodymyr Ivliev, fled his home in Kyiv to escape the war, joining his young family in Neath, Wales, who left Ukraine as soon as the Russian full-scale invasion of their country began in February 2022.

“I didn’t want to leave Ukraine,” he told The Valleys Lead. “But I needed to be closer to my family. And I really had no option. It was hard to move but my only other choice was to die in Ukraine.”

Working in international sales, Volodymyr already had a means of financially supporting himself and his family, but some his friends living in Wales hadn’t been able to find work.

“I had friends who wanted to work – they didn’t want to just stay on Universal Credit,” he said. “So, we decided to do something together.”

Even though he’d had no experience working in the restaurant business, Volodymyr knew how to cook “good Ukrainian food” and the friends decided they would open a Ukrainian restaurant in Neath.

“We wanted a Ukrainian menu – dumplings, borscht, and beet root – but we also wanted to create a place for the Ukrainian community,” he said.

With some upfront investment secured, Volodymyr opened Ruta Kitchen in January 2025.

“The name is simple, Ruta, which is a wildflower in Ukraine,” he said.

Read more

Thanks as always for joining us this week. We’ve got a story for you today about men’s mental health in the south Wales valleys. But rather than all doom and gloom, we spoke a man in Merthyr Tydfil who is looking to provide a space for men to get outside, be active, and talk.

The story is below, but first, we just wanted to say thanks for joining us again this week. If you’re enjoying and/or finding these newsletters helpful and informative, we’d love you to keep joining us every week by subscribing (it’s free!). And if you want to receive our exclusive reporting in full, there is just a small yearly fee (more on that below).

We are hoping to continue to build a community of readers in the south Wales valleys, and you would be doing local journalism a massive favour by sharing these newsletters on your social media feeds, or just sending them to people you think might be interested.

Thanks for reading, and thanks to everyone who has been in touch thus far with story tips. Rest assured, if you come to me with a story, discretion can be guaranteed. We’d love you to get in touch at valleys@thelead.uk or via Bluesky or Instagram with any stories you might have for us.

If you haven’t subscribed yet, please do so below! We’d be over the moon if you financially supported local journalism by paying just a small yearly amount when you subscribe. There’s a sale on right now so seize the day!

We’d love you to subscribe to support local journalism in the south Wales valleys (free and paid subscriptions available!).

If you want to support The Valleys Lead, it’s free to subscribe. Paid subscribers get a bit more for only £4.99 a month, or £49 a year - but we’ve got a St David’s Day treat for you as we now have 30% off if you subscribe during March. More details below.

Subscribe now

Some our exclusive reporting will be just for paying subscribers. We don’t have ads, we don’t do clickbait and all of our reporting is done right here in the valleys. If you sign up right now, you get 30% off your subscription forever - whether you pay annually or monthly. We believe journalism done properly is worth paying for and we hope you can support us.

It’s also free to share. And it would be a hugely appreciated if you did share The Valleys Lead with all your friends, acquaintances, and colleagues. Thank you!

Share

The Valleys Briefing

(A little round-up of some stories in brief from our valleys.)

• A new poll by YouGov for ITV Wales in partnership with Cardiff University has released a new predicted breakdown of how many seats each party will win in the Senedd elections in May. Plaid Cymru is on course to be the largest party with a vote share of 33%. And then: Reform 27%, Welsh Labour 13%, Welsh Conservatives 7%, Welsh Liberal Democrats 5%, and Other 4%. So of the 96 seats in the Senedd, 43 would go to Plaid Cymru, 30 to Reform UK, 12 to Welsh Labour, 10 to Wales Green Party, and 1 to Welsh Conservatives.

• Every book worm will be glad to hear that Treharris Library in Merthyr Tydfil is reopening from Monday, 30 March. It originally opened in 1909, and for the last five years, has been refurbished. The great grandson of Alderman Andrew Wilson, who opened the library over 100 years ago, was at the library to witness the re-opening. This may seem like an insignificant story at first glance, but look again, because Wales’ National Children’s Laureates have warned “a crisis" in literacy in schools. 20% of children in Wales don’t own a book at home, so libraries are vital to pass down literacy.

• A proposal to build six wind turbines with a maximum height of 200 metres on land between Abertillery and Abersychan has been refused by Welsh Government planning inspectors. At a meeting of Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council’s Planning committee on Thursday, March 25 councillors will be given an update on the Abertillery windfarm proposed for land between Abertillery and Abersychan, and will be told that the proposal was refused planning permission earlier this month. “The proposal would have unacceptable adverse impacts on the setting of the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park,” planning inspector Iwan Lloyd said.

• Councillors in Blaenau Gwent have been advised to approve plans for two private children’s care homes. Concerns have been raised in regard to fears over safety and security at the sites, two houses that will be turned into residential care homes for children. “The concerns appear to be based on the assumptions that the children will not be properly managed,” the proposals read. “It is difficult for the planning process to give any significant weight to the potential behaviour of individuals.”

“Deeply entrenched” idea of masculinity challenged by a men’s walking group

In June 2023, Gareth Pearson laced up his trainers and went for his first walk with Men Walking and Talking, Merthyr Tydfil.

“I struggled with my own mental health over the years,” the 39-year-old told The Valleys Lead. “When I started walking once a week with a small group of other men, I felt a massive positive effect on my mental health. I got out each week to have a chat and a laugh, and to get outside and move my body. It was like a reset each week.”

Gareth said he’s often felt there is a stigma when it comes to men talking about their emotions.

“Men have to be tough,” he said. “They can’t talk about emotions, other than how it felt when your football team lost on Saturday. You fear you’ll look unmanly.”

But even more so in the south Wales valleys, Gareth thinks men struggle to open up about how they feel.

“There has been so much job loss over the years because of the mines, factories, and steel works closing,” he said. “Everything closed quite quickly. The livelihoods of thousands of men were lost. And men didn’t want to talk about the impact on them then or now. We didn’t want to look weak.”

Amy Donovan, a Mental Health and Wellbeing Advisor for Mind Cwm Taf Morgannwg in the south Wales valleys told The Valleys Lead that communities in the valleys are known for their strength and “we keep going” attitudes, but that this hasn’t necessarily been good for men’s and boys’ mental health following the loss of heavy industry.

Read more

Spring and has sprung and the sun is out.

Today, we have a story for you about a group of residents in Merthyr Tydfil who have massive environmental and economic concerns about Welsh Water’s plans to build a new water treatment center.

The story is below, but first, we just wanted to say thanks for joining us again this week. If you’re enjoying and/or finding these newsletters helpful and informative, we’d love you to keep joining us every week by subscribing (it’s free!). And if you want to receive our exclusive reporting in full, there is just a small yearly fee (more on that below).

We are hoping to continue to build a community of readers in the south Wales valleys, and you would be doing local journalism a massive favour by sharing these newsletters on your social media feeds, or just sending them to people you think might be interested.

Thanks for reading, and thanks to everyone who has been in touch thus far with story tips. Rest assured, if you come to me with a story, discretion can be guaranteed. We’d love you to get in touch at valleys@thelead.uk or via Bluesky or Instagram with any stories you might have for us.

If you haven’t subscribed yet, please do so below! We’d be over the moon if you financially supported local journalism by paying just a small yearly amount when you subscribe. There’s a sale on right now so seize the day!

If you want to support The Valleys Lead, it’s free to subscribe. Paid subscribers get a bit more for only £4.99 a month, or £49 a year - but we’ve got a St David’s Day treat for you as we now have 30% off if you subscribe during March. More details below.

Some our exclusive reporting will be just for paying subscribers. We don’t have ads, we don’t do clickbait and all of our reporting is done right here in the valleys. If you sign up right now, you get 30% off your subscription forever - whether you pay annually or monthly. We believe journalism done properly is worth paying for and we hope you can support us.

It’s also free to share. And it would be a hugely appreciated if you did share The Valleys Lead with all your friends, acquaintances, and colleagues. Thank you!

Share

The Valleys Briefing

(A little round-up of some stories in brief from our valleys.)

• Last week, we reported on the four-week long health visitor strike within the Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board. This week, it has been announced that health visitors will strike for a further eight weeks. “Children in South Wales will have development checks cancelled or delayed as a health board refuses to pay health visitors the correct salary,” Unite the Union has said. “The industrial action will see essential, mandatory appointments go unfulfilled due to the stubbornness of their employer who is refusing to pay them the correct salary based on their qualifications which is costing them between £8000 to £9000 per year.”

• Nine routes have been ruled safe by Caerphilly Council and around 340 learners in these areas will no longer qualify for free school transport after the end of the summer term with parents and carers told to make their own transport arrangements to ensure regular school attendance. The changes announced by Caerphilly County Borough Council, tighten the criteria for free home-to-school transport by assessing whether a walking route is “available”—a definition many families say ignores real-world risks, said Plaid Cymru Councillor Charlotte Bishop. “Residents are up in arms about this, and rightly so. A route being marked as ‘available’ on paper does not make it safe in reality. Parents are being forced into impossible choices—send their child along a route they believe is unsafe or risk their education being disrupted. Concerns have also been raised around the expectation that pupils rely on public transport as an alternative. Yes, public transport may exist on paper, but it is unreliable and not cost effective. It is not an efficient or dependable option for getting children to school safely each day.”

• A new £77.5million Welsh-medium secondary school building is set to be built in Rhondda Cynon Taf. It will accommodate 750 pupils aged 11-16 as well as sixth form for around 150 students. The Welsh Government has set a vision - Cymraeg 2050 - of a million Welsh speakers in Wales by 2050, and helping to meet this goal seems to be a priority for RCT. One letter of objection questioned the priority for spending money on Welsh-medium education instead of priorities residents feel are more important. Responding to this rejection, a report stated that priorities and decisions regarding investment strategies were not relevant to planning.

“We’re tired of fighting Welsh Water.”

At the start of the year in 2022, Sian Davies, a 67-year-old who has lived in Merthyr Tydfil all her life, opened the doors to her garden and could see that across the way, stood on the farmland a stone’s throw away from her house, were men speaking about “drilling and measuring and pumping.”

Soon, the community she lived in were all talking about how Welsh Water were considering the land as the site of a new water treatment plant, and worrying about the impact the plans would have on the countryside, some of the only unspoilt land left in Merthyr Tydfil.

The plans slowly emerged: Welsh Water wanted to buy about 100 acres of farmland in Pontsarn, in Merthyr Tydfil, for their new plant.

Welsh Water said that the investment was needed as three water treatment works in the area were ageing and nearing the end of their operational life. They started consultations to replace the three aging treatment works with a single new water treatment works on Gurnos Farm in Pontsarn.

Pressure was further mounting on Welsh Water as there has been a new legal duty had also been placed on them by the Drinking Water Inspectorate requiring them to upgrade the treatment processes in the area by March 2030.

And so the consultation phase began. A spokesperson for Welsh Water told The Valleys Lead that they carried out a non-statutory consultations in 2022. “These early engagement exercises allowed us to share emerging proposals with stakeholders and local communities, and the feedback received played a vital role in shaping and refining our plans, including a review of site selection options.”

“Welsh Water arranged a couple of consultations with the public, but hadn’t publicised them,” Sian told The Valleys Lead. “They weren’t giving us much information.”

Locals organised a Facebook campaign group, Protect Pontsarn, whose members met in person and staged a protest in April 2022 where nearly 150 people showed up with signs and placards reading “Save Pontsarn from Welsh Water.”

One of their meetings, Sian recalls at least 500 people being present who weren’t happy with the water treatment centre plans.

“They’ve picked a greenfield site,” Sian said. “Why can’t they choose a brownfield site? There is going to be noise and light pollution. The river below the land will be polluted. When they do run-offs, they would flood the river and wash away all the existing wildlife. It’s going to affect tourism to the area. Locals will lose one of the only green wild patches left in Merthyr. I don’t think they have sufficiently researched sties that don’t impact all of these things.”

During meetings with Welsh Water, representatives explained to Sian and the members of Protect Pontsarn that the site was needed for the area to have clean water.

“We were told a number of sites had been considered, and this had been the most suitable for a number of reasons including proximity to the existing water network, proximity to Llwyn-on, Cantref and Pontsticill reservoirs and its high elevation which minimises the energy needed to pump water to customers, therefore keeping its carbon emissions low,” Sian said.

Sian and other residents kept pressing Welsh Water with their concerns, and in 2024, Welsh Water told residents that “due to the strength of feeling,” they were going to consider a new location down the road at Dan-y-Castell Farm, near Galon Uchaf.

Read more

I’m sure you’ve heard - council taxes have risen again. Have you had your letter letting you know how much you owe next year?

We’ve summarised the changes for you, all in one place, so you can see how your council tax rise compares to that in other local authorities in the valleys.

Before we explain the changes (which you’ll find below!), we just wanted to say thanks for joining us again this week. If you’re enjoying and/or finding these newsletters helpful and informative, we’d love you to keep joining us every week by subscribing (it’s free!). And if you want to receive our exclusive reporting in full, there is just a small yearly fee (more on that below).

We are hoping to continue to build a community of readers in the south Wales valleys, and you would be doing local journalism a massive favour by sharing these newsletters on your social media feeds, or just sending them to people you think might be interested.

Thanks for reading, and thanks to everyone who has been in touch thus far with story tips. Rest assured, if you come to me with a story, discretion can be guaranteed. We’d love you to get in touch at valleys@thelead.uk or via Bluesky or Instagram with any stories you might have for us.

If you haven’t subscribed yet, please do so below! We’d be over the moon if you financially supported local journalism by paying just a small yearly amount when you subscribe. There’s a sale on right now so seize the day!

If you want to support The Valleys Lead, it’s free to subscribe. Paid subscribers get a bit more for only £4.99 a month, or £49 a year - but we’ve got a St David’s Day treat for you as we now have 30% off if you subscribe during March. More details below.

Subscribe now

Some our exclusive reporting will be just for paying subscribers. We don’t have ads, we don’t do clickbait and all of our reporting is done right here in the valleys. If you sign up right now, you get 30% off your subscription forever - whether you pay annually or monthly. We believe journalism done properly is worth paying for and we hope you can support us.

It’s also free to share. And it would be a hugely appreciated if you did share The Valleys Lead with all your friends, acquaintances, and colleagues. Thank you!

Share

The Valleys Briefing

(A little round-up of some stories in brief from our valleys.)

-Four out of five local businesses in Neath feel unsupported by government, according to a survey run by Plaid Cymru’s MS in Neath, Sioned Williams. 83% of respondents said they feel they don’t get enough support from the government, and 64% said their biggest challenge was increased costs. “Small businesses have told me via my survey that they don’t get enough support, advice or information to help them flourish. Coupled with this, we know that Wales has some of the lowest levels of footfall in its town centres. I’m hearing just how tough it is for small businesses to compete against the larger businesses, which are better able to absorb increasing costs.”

-As The Valleys Lead reported recently, there is a dental emergency in the south Wales valleys. Plaid Cymru’s MS Lindsay Whittle, representing Caerphilly, asked the First Minister about this on Tuesday, explaining that 35 dentists across Wales have quit their NHS contracts in the last 12 months, 10 of them in the Aneurin Bevan Health Board ,which covers Caerphilly. “The single biggest issue raised with me by constituents is dentistry, with many being told they must go private to retain their regular dentists,” Whittle said. “For most people this is a big extra cost as they will struggle to afford, if they can afford it at all.” He asked the First Minister what the government has done to avert the growing crisis.

-Nearly £14million of Welsh Government funding will go on making coal tips in Rhondda Cynon Taf safer over the next year. RCT has the most coal tips classified as posing the highest risk. Concerns heightened in 2020, after a landslip in Tylorstown, Rhondda Cynon Taf. Some 60,000 tonnes of spoil material slid down the side of an old coal tip, entering a river. This led to the launch of a Coal Tip Safety Taskforce, external between the Welsh and UK governments.

How does my council tax rise compare to others in the south Wales valleys?

If you’re in the south Wales valleys, you’ve most likely had a piece of post through the letterbox this week (or last or next) regarding how much you owe for your 2026/27 council tax. If you haven’t had it already, prepare yourself, because you’ll owe substantially more than you did last year

Councils get their money from three main sources: a grant from the Welsh Government, council tax, and business rates. Cash flow is used to fund a range of services including bin collections, road repairs (potholes included), education, and social care.

We’ve collated the council tax rises in each local authority in the south Wales valleys, so you can see how your tax rise compares with the rises in local authorities surrounding you.

Neath Port Talbot Council

The council tax increase in Neath Port Talbot Council for this year is 3.5%, the lowest increase in Wales.

The budget will support a wide range of services from maintaining roads and educating thousands of children to caring for vulnerable people and collecting household waste, while “keeping the council tax increase among the lowest in Wales.”

It includes an additional £7 million to support pupils with additional learning needs, alongside a further £330,000 for building maintenance, which will include improvements to school facilities.

Despite a 4.2% funding increase from Welsh Government, the council initially faced a budget gap of £16.6 million for 2026/27. However, changes to local government pension scheme contributions, alongside the identification of more than 40 savings and income generation proposals, have reduced this shortfall to £2.785 million.

Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council

The council tax increase in Blaenau Gwent has come in at a 3.75% increase.

Labour and Independent members of the Council have said that this amount was “lower than originally planned,” demonstrating a “shared commitment from political leaders to minimise the impact on households” in Blaenau Gwent.

The budget planned for will include no service cuts in frontline services, a 10% increase in school funding, and £11 million for the Council Tax Reduction Scheme.

“I’m pleased that Full Council has approved a fair and responsible budget that protects key services and reflects what residents told us was important,” Council Leader Steve Thomas said. “The 3.75% council tax rise is significantly lower than our planning assumption and is likely to be one of the lowest increases in Wales. It has been achieved through improved funding, careful financial management, and a commitment to keep any rise as low as possible in a very challenging climate.”

Leader of the Independent Group, Councillor Wayne Hodgins said that this budget “shows what can be achieved through genuine collaboration, and putting people before politics.”

Although the leaders have applauded this lower-than-expected rise, Alicia Murphy in Ebbw Vale told The Valleys Lead she is disappointed by the change, given that Blaenua Gwent is the local authority with the highest concentration of highly deprived neighbourhoods in Wales.

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Happy Mother’s Day to those who mother in any way. You’re doing the vital work of raising up the next generation and we couldn’t be more grateful for you. We at The Valleys Lead are very interested in writing about the impacts of national and local policies on parents, women and children. If you ever want to talk to us about something happening in your patch, please do give us a shout at valleys@thelead.uk.

This week, we have a happy story for you, because sometimes, you just need something to smile about. We spoke with an artist in Blaenau Gwent who is gathering a collective of other artists as a way of giving people something to get excited about, something to feel good about.

Before we share the story (it’s below!), we just wanted to say thanks for joining us again this week. If you’re enjoying and/or finding these newsletters helpful and informative, we’d love you to keep joining us every week. We are hoping to continue to build a community of readers in the south Wales valleys, and you would be doing local journalism a massive favour by sharing these newsletters on your social media feeds, or just sending them to people you think might be interested.

If you haven’t subscribed yet, please do so below! We’d be over the moon if you financially supported local journalism by paying just a small yearly amount when you subscribe. There’s a sale on right now so seize the day!

If you want to support The Valleys Lead, it’s free to subscribe. Paid subscribers get a bit more for only £4.99 a month, or £49 a year - but we’ve got a St David’s Day treat for you as we now have 30% off if you subscribe during March. More details below.

We’d love to you subscribe. Simply share your email to receive newsletters from us twice a week. Bonus content for paid subscribers!

Simple as adding your email below!

Subscribe now

Thanks for reading, and thanks to everyone who has been in touch thus far with story tips. Rest assured, if you come to me with a story, discretion can be guaranteed. Get in touch at valleys@thelead.uk or via Bluesky or Instagram.

From last week - some our exclusive reporting will be just for paying subscribers. We don’t have ads, we don’t do clickbait and all of our reporting is done right here in the valleys. If you sign up right now, you get 30% off your subscription forever - whether you pay annually or monthly. We believe journalism done properly is worth paying for and we hope you can support us.

It’s also free to share. And it would be a hugely appreciated if you did share The Valleys Lead with all your friends, acquaintances, and colleagues. Thank you!

Share

The Valleys Briefing

(A little round-up of some stories in brief from our valleys.)

• Potholes. We’re all talking about them. Welsh Government data released Thursday estimated that 11,250 of them were fixed in Wales between April 2025 and January 2026. In Merthyr Tydfil, the least number of potholes were filled during that time (only 89), followed by Blaenua Gwent (with 136) and Neath Port Talbot (with 138).

• Councillor Andrew Morgan, Rhondda Cynon Taf Council leader and leader of the Welsh Local Government Association, has been appointed chair of Aneurin Bevan University Health Board. The new job has a £69,840-a-year salary, and entails holding ABUHB’s chief executive to account, chairing board meetings, and setting a “strategic vision” for the organisation. He has previously been quizzed before the Senedd about his credentials for the role. One Reform MS (who recently defected from the Conservatives), James Evans, said: “There will be elements out there who will say this is a little bit of cronyism, jobs for the boys in a way. I’m just interested in how do you manage that perception going into an organisation like Aneurin Bevan, which has got some very big strategic challenges.”

• A protest was held in Pontsticill, in Merthyr Tydfil, on Wednesday. The Pontsticill to Pant road has been closed since the landslip following Storm Bert in November 2024, adding to years of disruption that began after Storm Dennis in 2020. Despite meetings and updates, residents are still waiting for a clear plan and real progress.

A collective in Ebbw Vale bringing art to the most deprived local authority in Wales

Growing up in Ebbw Vale, a town in the Gwent valley of south Wales, Gavin Robinson, remembers thinking that like his father, his main employment option would be working at the local steel factory.

“But then in the early 2000s, the steelworks closed and large parts of the site were knocked down as development began” Gavin told The Valleys Lead.

The closure of the steelworks ended over 200 years of steel production and resulted in the loss of 780 jobs. In its prime, the steelworks in Ebbw Vale employed around 14,000 workers, providing consistent employment for Blaenau Gwent locals.

Since its closure, a school, a college, a hospital, a leisure centre, housing and industrial units have replaced the steelworks, and Gavin said nature has reclaimed much of where the site used to be.

As Ebbw Vale has sought to evolve, Gavin and a collective of artists in the area have made it their goal to bring beauty and creativity to the town.

“There’s not a lot of community spirit at the moment,” he said. “It’s very fragmented because of political views. There’s a lot of unemployment. And there is a void of things to do in the town for children, leading to anti-social behaviour. People are, in many ways, stuck in a rut.”

The arts, Gavin feels, has always been an “extra” that people in the town haven’t felt is a luxury to be pursued. “Everyone is just living in survival mode,” he said. “I know when my father lost his job, it devastated him but luckily, he managed to find another, but there were so many others who couldn’t find work. The pressure hit hard and they disappeared into pubs. There’s no hope then.”

Caught up in the grind of making a living, Gavin didn’t pursue the love of art he had as a child and young adult.

“I only felt like half a person,” he said. “I needed self-expression. We all need a form of self-expression.”

Gavin has previously struggled with depression, and reconnecting with his art became one of the pieces of the puzzle that helped him feel well again.

“Art and creativity help take the sting out of life,” he said.

Read more

If you’re new to reading, hello and welcome. We are so glad you’ve decided to join us in looking at stories from the south Wales valleys.

This week, we want to tell you a story about dozens of health visitors who have gone on strike in the valleys. Why are they striking? Are mothers worried? What are the safeguarding risks? Who is to blame if something goes wrong during the strike? Let’s get to answering those questions.

Before we share the story (it’s below!), we just wanted to say thanks for joining us again this week. If you’re enjoying and/or finding these newsletters helpful and informative, we’d love you to keep joining us every week. We are hoping to continue to build a community of readers in the south Wales valleys, and you would be doing local journalism a massive favour by sharing these newsletters on your social media feeds, or just sending them to people you think might be interested.

If you haven’t subscribed yet, please do so below! We’d be over the moon if you financially supported local journalism by paying just a small yearly amount when you subscribe. There’s a sale on right now so seize the day!

If you want to support The Valleys Lead, it’s free to subscribe. Paid subscribers get a bit more for only £4.99 a month, or £49 a year - but we’ve got a St David’s Day treat for you as we now have 30% off if you subscribe during March. More details below.

We’d love to you subscribe. Simply share your email to receive newsletters from us twice a week. Bonus content for paid subscribers!

Thanks for reading, and thanks to everyone who has been in touch thus far with story tips. Rest assured, if you come to me with a story, discretion can be guaranteed. Get in touch at valleys@thelead.uk or via Bluesky or Instagram.

From last week - some our exclusive reporting will be just for paying subscribers. We don’t have ads, we don’t do clickbait and all of our reporting is done right here in the valleys. If you sign up right now, you get 30% off your subscription forever - whether you pay annually or monthly. We believe journalism done properly is worth paying for and we hope you can support us.

It’s also free to share. And it would be a hugely appreciated if you did share The Valleys Lead with all your friends, acquaintances, and colleagues. Thank you!

Share

The Valleys Briefing

(A little round-up of some stories in brief from our valleys.)

• Some very positive news for all of Wales - Wales is removing profit from children’s home, fostering, and secure accomodation. Currently, some of these placements are run by companies that make a profit, meaning public money can end up in shareholders’ pockets rather than being spent on children. In less than a month, new providers of children’s homes, fostering services, and secure accomodation will no longer be able to make a profit in Wales - making it the first nation in the UK to take this landmark step.

• Plans for taxi licence feeds in Merthyr Tydfil to increase for the first time in nine years will go out to consultation. Full council on Wednesday, March 4, agreed to consult on proposals which for new drivers (three-year licence) would see fees increase from £272 to £312, driver renewal (three-year licence) fees increase from £230 to £290, vehicle fees go up from £154 to £217, and private hire operator fees (five-year licence) increase from £135 to £394. This news comes off the back of many in Merthyr Tydfil recently noting they have been overcharged for using taxis.

• And some happy news. Three children’s parks in Blaenau Gwent, the most deprived local authority in Wales, are to be refurbished with brand new equipment this year. The improvements will be carried out thanks to a combined investment from the Welsh Government’s All Wales Play Opportunities Grant £104,000) and £100,000 from Blaenau Gwent’s councillors through their Members’ Choice funding. Councillor Sue Edmunds, Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Families said: “Our priorities are to give every child the best start in life and play is so important for the development of their cognitive, physical, social, and emotional skills. These much-needed improvements will ensure children have safe, fun, and inclusive spaces to enjoy for years to come.”

Over 100 health visitors in the south Wales valleys are on strike for four weeks

After suffering with postnatal depression following the birth of her second baby back in the 90s, the support Lisa Burke received from her health visitor inspired Lisa to herself become a health visitor.

“That was the job I wanted to do too,” Lisa, now 59, told The Valleys Lead. Already a registered nurse, Lisa signed up for a one-year course to become a qualified health visitor, and went on to work in Merthyr, and then in Abercynon. Twenty-six years later, she is still serving families, particularly mothers and their children, in the valleys.

But for the last two weeks, Lisa has been striking with 100 other health visitors part of Unite the Union in the Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board (CTMUHB).

Health visitors like Lisa, who do vital community outreach work for new mothers and families, are furious that they are only being paid as band six workers. This is despite internal job grading now matching them as a Band 7 acknowledging a master’s qualification.

Since she started working as a health visitor, Lisa said her responsibilities have greatly increased.

“The role is totally different that what it had previously been,” she said, blaming austerity and the pandemic among many reasons why her workload has drastically increased. “The weight of responsibility we carry is huge. I never switch off from it.”

Another health visitor in the valleys, Janet*, agreed with Lisa regarding the increased workload, adding: “There has been an increase in children identified to have additional needs which requires a more enhanced visiting service,” she told The Valleys Lead. “There is a high level of sickness among health visitors, mostly due to mental health. When a member of your team is off work, their vulnerable cases are distributed out to other health visitors who will hold that family the original health visitor returns from sickness. These additional cases have to be done as well as your own workload and there are no funds within the budget to have bank staff to support us.”

Every weekday, Janet gets home “mentally and physically exhausted,” and the same is true of most health visitors in the valleys.

In June 2021, a health visitor in the valleys repeatedly requested an updated job description for health visitors within the health board to reflect the work being carried out, as part of the 2004 Agenda for Change which matched job descriptions to pay bands.

Nearly four years, and many requests later, nothing had been done, and health visiting staff participated in industrial action, refusing to complete tasks not in their current job descriptions. This action short of a strike, included no unpaid overtime, no statistical reporting for the Welsh government and no covering for vacant caseloads. Action began on 26 February 2024 and continued until late July 2024. It was the first time health visitors had taken industrial action as a distinct group of workers in Wales.

The result? The health board agreed to an updated job description for health visitors.

Read more

We’re rolling into spring and loving it. Hope you’ve been able to sneak out for a little walk in the dry weather we’ve had this week.

This week, we’ve got a political/environmental/human interest story for you. You might have heard of Ty Llwyd Quarry in the past as there has already been reporting about the toxins present at the site. We’ve got a slightly different angle for you today - one asking why two councillors feel they have been banned from conversations about and actions taken regarding the quarry, which is on their patch in Caerphilly County. There’s a lot to cover, so let’s start.

Before we share the story (it’s below!), we just wanted to say thanks for joining us again this week. If you’re enjoying and/or finding these newsletters helpful and informative, we’d love you to keep joining us every week. We are hoping to continue to build a community of readers in the south Wales valleys, and you would be doing local journalism a massive favour by sharing these newsletters on your social media feeds, or just sending them to people you think might be interested.

If you haven’t subscribed yet, please do so below! We’d be over the moon if you financially supported local journalism by paying just a small yearly amount when you subscribe. There’s a sale on right now so seize the day!

If you want to support The Valleys Lead, it’s free to subscribe. Paid subscribers get a bit more for only £4.99 a month, or £49 a year - but we’ve got a St David’s Day treat for you as we now have 30% off if you subscribe during March. More details below.

We’d love to you subscribe. Simply share your email to receive newsletters from us twice a week.

Thanks for reading, and thanks to everyone who has been in touch thus far with story tips. Rest assured, if you come to me with a story, discretion can be guaranteed. Get in touch at valleys@thelead.uk or via Bluesky or Instagram.

From this week - some our exclusive reporting will be just for paying subscribers. We don’t have ads, we don’t do clickbait and all of our reporting is done right here in the valleys. If you sign up right now, you get 30% off your subscription forever - whether you pay annually or monthly. We believe journalism done properly is worth paying for and we hope you can support us.

It’s also free to share. And it would be a hugely appreciated if you did share The Valleys Lead with all your friends, acquaintances, and colleagues. Thank you!

Share

The Valleys Briefing

(A little round-up of some stories in brief from our valleys.)

• The number of people being referred to a Welsh council because they are at high risk of domestic violence has gone up by more than 50% in five years. Since 2021, referrals to Rhondda Cynon Taf Council have more than doubled. Gary Black, head of the community wellbeing and resilience service for the council said while they had anticipated a rise during Covid, the numbers have only continued to rise.

• Twelve parks and gardens in Neath Port Talbot will now remain open to the public 24/7 after members of the council agreed to the decision that should cut costs, improve efficiency, and better manage resources. During a trial period, stakeholders indicated there wasn’t an increase in anti-social behaviour or criminal activity.

• A Welsh political journalist we respect, , has scrutinised Reform UK’s plans for Wales. The party wouldn’t allow Hayward to be in the room when they announced their manifesto this week. If you’ve been wondering what Reform are planning for Wales (which will directly impact the south Wales valleys), you’ll want to have a read.

Councillors say they’ve been “banned” from Ty Llwyd Quarry

Two councillors for Ynysddu, in Caerphilly County Borough Council told The Valleys Lead they have been left out of conversations regarding a quarry in their patch that they suspect has highly toxic chemicals, including Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).

PCBs are toxic, man-made, hazardous organic chemicals that have dangerous effects on the environment and our health. They persist in the environment for long periods and travel over great distances through air, water, and species that migrate. Manufacturing of PCBs, which were widely used in electric equipment, was banned in the UK in 1981 after tests revealed them to be deadly to humans and wildlife.

Activists have long contended that buried waste left behind by the company Monsanto over 50 years ago at the Ty Llwyd Quarry includes dangerous these dangerous PCBs, among other toxic waste. Residents near the quarry are concerned, leading to Reed’s attempts to question the council’s action (or lack thereof).

“We’re being banned by the council,” Janine Reed told The Valleys Lead. “I find that odd. Our role as councillors is to question offices on how they are managing the council.”

While Janine Reed and her colleague Jan Jones haven’t officially been banned, they have been excluded from conversations and meetings about Ty Llwyd Quarry

Caerphilly County Borough Council have said that while PCBs have been detected in samples taken by Environmental Health, in samples taken in January 2023, no PCBs were detected.

But when Reed requested a map of where the council tested in the woodland below the quarry, the map showed “tests were not taken in the flow of leachate which went down the mountain.”

Although the council declared no toxins had been found, a large green fence was erected to keep people from the quarry, with a ‘private property’ sign attached.

This finding from the council doesn’t match up with the findings from samples Reed sent to David Santillo of Green Peace. In March 2023, Reed collected samples from the woodland around the quarry in plastic bottles.

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“They asked if there was anything I could do with them,” Santillo told The Valleys Lead. “As the samples were collected in drinking water bottles and we weren’t around when samples were collected, the findings should be looked at as indicative. I was confident that in the samples we received, there were no questions about the results. The samples were quite contaminated, some of them quite toxic.”

The chemicals found were produced “deliberately” or as “by-products of industrial chlorine chemistry.”

“They are environmentally persistent,” Santillo said. “There is little doubt in my mind that they’ve come from waste disposed of. It is shocking but no surprising. If you’re exposed to even low quantities over an extended period of time, they have the potential to build up and give you severe consequences. If there are leaking into the water, they are probably also steadily being emitted into the air.”

Natural Resources Wales told The Valleys Lead: “We have carried out our own tests and taken multiple samples as part of our own investigation in response to the water discharges that occurred at Ynysddu in Caerphilly in 2024, which have been analysed in our laboratory in Swansea. Caerphilly Council additionally undertook their own independent sampling.

“We will continue to work closely with Caerphilly Council as it evaluates current site conditions, and we will provide technical advice to tackle any issues and protect the environment, local communities and wildlife from the impacts of this legacy.”

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We genuinely hope that you are doing okay right now, as the news coming in from around the world is harrowing and frightening.

Thanks for joining us again this week. If you’re enjoying and/or finding these newsletters helpful and informative, we’d love you to keep joining us every week. We are hoping to continue to build, and you would be doing local journalism a massive favour by sharing these newsletters on your social media feeds, or just sending them to people you think might be interested.

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This week, we’ve got a long one for you. In the south Wales valleys, you will no doubt have heard many a myth about asylum seekers and refugees. We want to pre-empt many of your questions here - not to judge, but to promote conversation and understanding.

If you want to support The Valleys Lead, it’s free to subscribe. Paid subscribers get a bit more for only £4.99 a month, or £49 a year - but we’ve got a St David’s Day treat for you as we now have 30% off if you subscribe during March. More details below.

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Thanks for reading, and thanks to everyone who has been in touch thus far with story tips. Rest assured, if you come to me with a story, discretion can be guaranteed. Get in touch at valleys@thelead.uk or via Bluesky or Instagram.

From this week - some our exclusive reporting will be just for paying subscribers. We don’t have ads, we don’t do clickbait and all of our reporting is done right here in the valleys. If you sign up right now, you get 30% off your subscription forever - whether you pay annually or monthly. We believe journalism done properly is worth paying for and we hope you can support us.

It’s also free to share. And it would be a hugely appreciated if you did share The Valleys Lead with all your friends, acquaintances, and colleagues. Thank you!

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The Valleys Briefing

(A little round-up of some stories in brief from our valleys.)

• Laura Anne Jones, Reform UK’s only MS, who was banned from the Senedd for two weeks last year for using a racial slur about Chinese people, later denying she is racist, has said this week: “There has been uproar over new guidance in England, allowing children as young as four to socially transition, changing names and pronouns in the classroom. But in Wales, this is nothing new. Schools have long been encouraged to push gender ideology on small children. Biological reality shredded. Parental rights trampled. Kids’ minds indoctrinated. All under the guise of inclusion. Children as young as four should not be confused about basic biology. In Reform, we are crystal clear. Law and facts trumps ideology. We defend women’s girls rights. We back parents.”

• This week, Councillor Declan Sammon of Dowlais and Pant Community Independents announced he has stepped down from his role as cabinet member for transformation, governance, and social partnership. His farewell has left lots of questions with no answers. All we’ve been told is that Councillor Brent Carter, the Labour leader of the council, will temporarily take on this cabinet responsibility.

• Last week, the Welsh Parliament gave its consent to Westminster legislation that would allow terminally ill people to obtain a medically assisted death. First Minister Eluned Morgan and Health Secretary Jeremy Miles were among those who voted against. No matter how the consent motion had gone last week, if the law passes in Westminster, the practice would have been legal anyway in Wales, with Wales’ Parliament only left to decide on how to implement it. The motion was backed by 28 Senedd members, with 23 against and two abstentions. Delyth Jewell, Plaid Cymru’s MS for South Wales East voted against, saying: “The fear and terror I have is how this will end in situations where disabled people, those who are poor or lonely or abused will be led to feel they have no choice but to end their life.”

Let’s do a bit of myth-busting about asylum in the south Wales valleys

It’s been announced this week that big changes are in store for the UK asylum system. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced that from Monday, 1 March 2026, any asylum seeker successfully given refugee status in the UK will be offered only temporary protection. It’s a huge change to the UK’s asylum system, and the changes will come into force without a parliamentary vote as they simply change existing rules.

Whereas previously, refugee status was granted for a five-year period, from this week, refugees will only be given a 30 months’ status, with protection in the UK reviewed at the end of that period.

The British Red Cross Director of Policy, Research and Advocacy said of the changes: “The plans will leave people in need of protection and safety in a perpetual state of limbo, where they can neither focus on recovery or plan for their future. We must never forget that behind the headlines are men, women and children who have already endured the trauma of war and persecution. We need a fair and compassionate asylum system, one that aligns with the UK’s long and proud history of providing protection for refugees, particularly in these uncertain times.”

Altaf Hussain, Welsh Conservative MS for South Wales West is in favour of this changing, saying to The Valleys Lead: “It's right that reviewing statuses periodically protects taxpayers that fund sanctuary since, by definition, refuge remains temporary. With increasing illegal immigration persisting predominantly via Channel crossings, it is imperative UK residents regain confidence in border protection policies whilst we focus in parallel on urgently enhancing community cohesion. I‘d like a welcoming Wales where we understand our differences don’t come before British values like toleration, respecting rule of law, and achieving balance between duties & rights where we all play our part in strengthening society.”

Opposing the change is Alun Davies, Labour MS for Blaenau Gwent, who told The Valleys Lead: “I’m very disappointed in this. Our Welsh Labour values mean that we reach out to support some of the most vulnerable people in the world. Becoming a refugee and losing your home because of war and conflict is a trauma. I would expect our governments to help and support people rather than cause them harm.”

With this news, The Valleys Lead thought it would be ideal timing to bust several myths we’ve heard lingering in the south Wales valleys about the asylum system.

We sat down with Paul Shackson from The Welsh Refugee Council to get the facts – facts that might have been overlooked and mispresented through click-bait headlines and social media rants.

“There is a lot of misinformation currently in the public sphere,” Paul told The Valleys Lead. “We want to provide an opportunity to present the right facts and figures, and explain what asylum seekers and refugees have and continue to go through.”

He said that in the valleys, and elsewhere in Wales, asylum seekers and refugees are depicted negatively – as people who shouldn’t be here, people who shouldn’t be helped, and people who bring nothing to our society.

“That’s completely wrong,” said Paul.

It’s worth defining terms here at the start

Who is an asylum-seeker? A person who has left their country of origin and formally applied for asylum in another country, but whose application has not yet been concluded. Whilst the Home Office decides if they are in fact a refugee, asylum seekers have a legal right to stay in the country while waiting for a decision.

People seeking asylum are looking for safety, and they often choose to make the journey to the UK because they have family or friends here, or because they speak English (due to historic British colonialism).

Who is a refugee? In the UK, a person becomes a refugee when the government agrees that an individual who has applied for asylum meets the definition in the Refugee Convention. They will “recognise” that person as a refugee and issue them with refugee status documentation (this is what is changing from this week). A refugee has proven to the UK Government that it would be a risk to return to their home country.

Is the asylum system a devolved issue?

You may have read it, heard it, or watched it – people in the south Wales valleys demanding that asylum seekers and refugees stop coming to Wales.

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Happy St David’s Day from us to you! Are you eating a Welsh cake? Or maybe a slice of Bara Brith?

Thanks for joining us again this week. If you’re enjoying and/or finding these newsletters helpful and informative, we’d love you to keep joining us every week. We are hoping to continue to build, and you would be doing local journalism a massive favour by sharing these newsletters on your social media feeds, or just sending them to people you think might be interested. And if you haven’t subscribed yet, please do so below - it’s free!

This week, we’ve got a story to tell you about the links between Ukrainian and Welsh miners. Today is a day of celebration in Wales, but this week hasn’t been a celebration in Ukraine. Instead, this week marks four years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. As we celebrate today, let’s also remember those in Ukraine exhausted by an oppressor in a war that feels never-ending.

If you want to support The Valleys Lead, it’s free to subscribe. Paid subscribers get a bit more for only £4.99 a month, or £49 a year - but we’ve got a St David’s Day treat for you as we now have 30% off if you subscribe during March. More details below.

We’d love to you subscribe. Simply share your email to receive newsletters from us twice a week.

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Thanks for reading, and thanks to everyone who has been in touch thus far with story tips. Rest assured, if you come to me with a story, discretion can be guaranteed. Get in touch at valleys@thelead.uk or via Bluesky or Instagram.

From today - some our exclusive reporting will be just for paying subscribers. We don’t have ads, we don’t do clickbait and all of our reporting is done right here in the valleys. If you sign up right now, you get 30% off your subscription forever - whether you pay annually or monthly. We believe journalism done properly is worth paying for and we hope you can support us.

It’s also free to share. And it would be a hugely appreciated if you did share The Valleys Lead with all your friends, acquaintances, and colleagues. Thank you!

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The Valleys Briefing

(A little round-up of some stories in brief from our valleys.)

• A councillor seen as a “figurehead” for Reform UK in Wales has said no one receives as much social media abuse as him, at a meeting of Torfaen Borough Council’s ethics and standards committee. The meeting has held to hear from leaders of the council’s political groups on their duty, under Welsh local government legislation, to “promote good conduct” within their groups. Councillor David Thomas, who is the director for Nigel Farage’s party in Wales, said he was concerned at the impact of trolling and social media abuse on the family members of councillors. He said: “I think nobody gets abuse, or his character assassinated, as much as me on social media.” Interestingly, The Valleys Lead reported last week about social media bullying towards female politicians in the valleys, with the women interviewed saying that the bullying ramped up as Reform UK increased in popularity in Wales.

• In Blaenau Gwent, it has been announced that there has been an overspend of just under £1.5 million on this year’s budget. Labour Councillor in Tredegar, Steve Thomas, said this spend is primarily due to the strain on Children’s Social Services. “Demand-led services remain volatile, particularly placements and complexity of need. This isn’t a position to panic, but nor should we dismiss it.”

• Health visitors employed by Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board began industrial action on February 23 over an incorrect pay banding “costing them thousands,” according to Unite union. Health visitors are reportedly missing out on between £8,000 and £9,000 a year because their NHS employer is refusing to pay them the correct salary based on their qualifications. There are calls that this matter be settled quickly as there are concerns being raised about disruption to routine child development checks and support visits to vulnerable families, and perhaps most importantly - safeguarding concerns as health visitors are often the ones who pick up on any unknown vulnerabilities in a home.

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A debt to Ukraine repaid by Welsh miners

This week marks four years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. As the conflict carries on, with Ukraine resisting Russian forces with the help of international support, the death count rises daily.

On Tuesday (24 February), Volodymyr Zelensky said “Ukraine never chose this war,” and many Ukrainians would say they didn’t think the war would last as long as it has. Their determination in the face of a giant oppressor is respectable to us who look on from afar, to us in the south Wales valleys.

Wales as a whole has provided significant support for Ukraine since 2022, investing over £58 million in response to the crisis. This amount accounts for 91% of Wales’ Nation of Sanctuary budget from 2019 to 2025. Nearly 5,000 Ukrainians have been sponsored by individuals living in Wales, and the Welsh Government provided initial accommodation and direct support to just over 3,000 Ukrainian refugees who arrived in Wales via the Homes for Ukraine scheme. The Welsh Government has also offered Ukrainians a free helpline, funding for specialist support, and free immigration advice. Worth noting however, that both the Welsh Conservatives and Reform UK have called on the Welsh Government to scrap the Nation of Sanctuary, a policy aimed at supporting refugees, including Ukrainians, to integrate into Welsh society.

As we mark the bravery of Ukrainians, and their losses, I’d like to tell you a story that you may or may not know about the link between the south Wales valleys and Ukraine.

During the Welsh miners’ strikes of 1984 and 1985, tens of thousands of miners in Wales, particularly in the valleys, went on strike trying to retain their jobs and keep pits open when Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher announced the closure of 20 coal pits.

I’m fully aware that this is a period of time everyone in the valleys over the age of 45 remembers well. It was a dark era, full of poverty and hopelessness. These mines put food on the table of countless families, and then all the sudden, they were shutting. Striking seemed the only option. But with a year-long strike came abject poverty.

Women were central to keeping communities going, with their campaigning, picketing, fundraising, and food collections.

International donations were also vital. And one seemingly unlikely supportive country was Ukraine – in particular, Ukrainian miners.

“The link between coal miners in various countries transcends national borders,” Mick Antoniw, Labour MS, told The Valleys Lead. “These communities are built up around coal mining, and they know the dangers associated with it.”

Antoniw, who speaks Ukrainian as his father was Ukrainian, told The Valleys Lead that Welsh and Ukrainian miners have been supporting each other for years, back as far as the 1920s.

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We hope you enjoyed the sun shining over the valleys yesterday, a rarity so far in 2026.

Thanks for joining us again this week. If you’re enjoying and/or finding these newsletters helpful and informative, we’d love you to keep joining us every week. We are hoping to continue to build, and you would be doing local journalism a massive favour by sharing these newsletters on your social media feeds, or just sending them to people you think might be interested. And if you haven’t subscribed yet, please do so below - it’s free!

This week, we’re talking to four people in the south Wales valleys about why they want to save a Specialist Palliative Care Unit in Mountain Ash. What do you think? Do we need these beds, or would money be better spent elsewhere? After you read, feel free to tell us what you think - we love a bit of discussion.

If you want to support The Valleys Lead, it’s free to subscribe. Paid subscribers get a bit more for only £4.99 a month, or £49 a year.

We’d love to you subscribe. Simply share your email to receive newsletters from us twice a week.

Subscribe now

Thanks for reading, and thanks to everyone who has been in touch thus far with story tips. Rest assured, if you come to me with a story, discretion can be guaranteed. Get in touch at valleys@thelead.uk or via Bluesky or Instagram.

For now, all the newsletters are free, but soon enough, some of our exclusive reporting will be only for subscribers.

The Valleys Lead is in-depth, independent reporting where you live. Support what we do with a paid subscription.

It’s also free to share. And it would be a hugely appreciated if you did share The Valleys Lead with all your friends, acquaintances, and colleagues. Thank you!

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The Valleys Briefing

(A little round-up of some stories in brief from our valleys.)

• A Freedom of Information request revealed that 56 pothole repairs had been carried on just one stretch of road – Groeswen Road – in Caerphilly in less than two years at a cost of more than £9,000. Plaid Cymru councillor Steve Skivens is demanding swift action by Caerphilly Council to end the potholes menace plaguing the area. “Nearly everyone that contacts me has a story about potholes and it’s getting worse,” Plaid Cymru councillor Steve Skivens said. “We don’t need short-term measures, we must spend more on resurfacing. But in 2023-24 the budget for resurfacing was cut from £3.4m to £1.1m and in the last financial year cut further to £739,000. Surprise, surprise the roads deteriorate significantly.” He said this is down to the Labour council’s shorter term attitude and spending cuts.

• Labour MSs Alun Davies and Mick Antoniw, both representing the south Wales valleys, travelled last week to Ukraine to deliver supplies on behalf of people in the south Wales valleys. Davies spoke in the Senedd after their journey saying: “We saw the reality of life in Ukraine. The Nation of Sanctuary is a mark of our civilisation, a mark of who we are as nation and country. It tells everybody that the people of Wales will always support those fleeing war.”

• On Thursday, there is an event in Pontypridd at the Treforest Industrial Estate showcasing Wales’s first comparative trial of hydrogen and electric refuse collection vehicles. Cardiff Capital Region is backing the trial as part of its commitment to accelerating fleet decarbonisation across South East Wales, generating vital evidence on the viability and scalability of hydrogen and electric RCV technology to inform future regional investment and infrastructure planning. This event will offer an exclusive first look at both vehicles, the technology behind them and the potential implications for the decarbonisation of public service fleets across Wales.

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6,000 voices oppose plans to close a specialist palliative care unit in the valleys

Last week, Councillor Brent Carter, leader of Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council, wrote to Cwm Taf Morgannwg Health Board about the council’s “serious apprehension” regarding changes to specialist palliative care, including the potential loss of the Specialist Palliative Care unit on Ward 6 at Ysbyty Cwm Cynon in Mountain Ash.

The letter was in response to the Cwm Taf Morgannwg Health Board’s announced intention to change the way specialist palliative care is run, describing their current services as “unsustainable” and “not meeting the needs” of the population. Changes are being considered to instead further strengthen end-of-life care in the community. Part of this change could potentially include removing a small specialist palliative care unit based in Mountain Ash, transforming it instead to a general medical facility.

Nearly 6,000 people have signed a petition to save the specialist palliative care beds at Ysbyty Cwm Cynon, a clear signal that residents aren’t happy with the decision. “The absence of a dedicated palliative care provision in the local area would leave families in the Merthyr and Cynon Valleys reeling,” the petition stated.

Barry Myers is a 69-year-old living in Hirwaun who is scared his end-of-life care may not be what he needs when the time comes. “I was diagnosed in August 2024 with COPD, bronchiectasis and pulmonary fibrosis, and told it is incurable,” Barry told The Valleys Lead. “I am on home oxygen therapy for a minimum of 15 hours a day and have been an outpatient of the palliative care unit since January 2025.”

Barry knows that soon enough, he will need full time medical care and pain relief. “When this stage arrives, it will be extremely difficult to administer from home,” he said. “But if I go to Mountain Ash, then I can get the medical care required and still be close enough for my wife to come and visit me.”

If the unit in Mountain Ash closes, Barry would most likely be placed in Llantrisant or Bridgend – a distance his wife, 82, could not access as she isn’t able to drive.

“But at Ysbyty Cwm Cynon, visiting would be just a quick taxi ride away,” he said.

One woman who has already experienced the gift of Ward 6 is Dianne Lewis from Abernant. Her son Richard, who had been diagnosed with antiphospholipid syndrome in 2016, was transported to Ysbyty Cwm Cynon in October 2023, at the age of 54, to spend his last days surrounded by family.

“The staff made the final weeks of his life comfortable, and not only supported our son, but the whole family,” Dianne told The Valleys Lead. “He was given so much support around the clock from all staff, including doctors, nursing, and domestic staff. As a family, we were able to visit anytime of the day or night, and during his last few days we didn’t leave his bedside. My husband and I sat at Richard’s bedside holding his hand while he passed.”

Dianne has heard that this change to specialist palliative care will include community specialist palliative care, but she said this “is not the right move.”

“You would waste funds duplicating resources for each patient, only to be used once; whereas, if they invested in the ward and staffing correctly, a number of the resources needed could be reused by other patients on the ward,” she continued. “We also believe that the ward would provide a consistent approach to palliative care.”

Dianne is “passionate” for this service to continue on Ward 6.

“End of life care needs to be delivered at Mountain Ash hospital,” she urged. “The staff are trained and experienced in knowing how to provide what is needed at such a critical time in a person’s life. Families are not equipped with the medical, physical, or emotional skills to adequately care for someone in their last months of life at home. The impact of having to care for someone at the end of life lives with you forever. It has a massive impact on the family’s mental health and wellbeing, which in turn adds to the pressures on GPs and NHS. We cannot afford to lose this ward.”

Merthyr councillor Geraint Thomas told The Valleys Lead that his wife, Annmarie, was very clear about her wishes when she became very ill with cancer. “She told me she didn’t want to die at home,” Geraint said. “She didn’t want the children to experience the trauma.”

Annmarie’s last days were spent at Velindre hospital, not Ysbyty Cwm Cynon, but his lived experience of losing his wife has driven Geraint to push for specialist palliative care centres in our local communities in the south Wales valleys.

“We need them so people can die in peace and with dignity,” he said. “The hardest afternoon of my life was seeing my wife die and explaining to our four young sons that their mother had passed. I’m so glad they were not exposed to seeing her die at home.”

Another woman from Aberdare, Beth, whose name has been changed, said her sister was transferred in 2019 to Ysbyty Cwm Cynon after being diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer which had metastasised to her brain.

“She needed specialist, 24-hour care which neither her husband nor us as her family could provide,” Beth told The Valleys Lead. “My sister would not have wanted us to do that either, having previously discussed such a scenario with her. The proximity of the hospital made a very harrowing time for us all a little easier.”

Beth said all of the staff were extremely caring, considerate and supportive of her sister and the family.

“They kept us informed of all changes in her condition and treatment,” she said. “We could visit at any time, up to nine in the evening - but when my sister was very ill, staying with her constantly was encouraged.”

Although Beth thinks more money should be spent on home care for patients who would like this option, she thinks the specialist palliative care ward should continue to be offered as an option.

As changes in the near future loom, Vikki Howells, Labour MS for the Cynon Valley told The Valleys Lead that while she welcomes the health board’s commitment to accommodate for the growing number of people who want end-of-life care in the community, she “cannot support their proposals to close the Specialist Palliative Care Unit within Ward 6 in Ysbyty Cwm Cynon.”

“I sincerely hope that Cwm Taf Morgannwg Health Board will reconsider their plans and I would encourage local residents to feedback their concerns to make clear how much this service is valued,” she told The Valleys Lead.

Heledd Fychan, Plaid Cymru MS for South Wales Central, told The Valleys Lead she has written to the health board, “raising concerns about the proposal and asking a number of questions that urgently need to be addressed.”

“Specialist palliative care needs to be accessible to every community, and I will continue to make the case for the ward to be retained at Ysbyty Cwm Cynon,” she continued.

A spokesperson for Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board, responded to The Valleys Lead saying: “We want everyone to have fair access to high‑quality specialist palliative and end‑of‑life care, support, and advice, delivered in a way that respects individual choices and needs. We are engaging with, and listening to, our communities to help shape the future of specialist palliative care, ensuring it is fairer, more sustainable, and better focused on supporting people with the most complex needs, while strengthening end‑of‑life care within the community.”

Dianne concluded that although she realises money is being invested in the NHS, the service isn’t meeting needs due to how it’s managed. “As a family, we are disappointed to hear that Mountain Ash hospital’s facilities are yet again being put under threat – how many times do we need to fight for what is needed in our community?”

If you’d like to add your voice to the discussion, there is an online survey here that you can complete.