UK Election Special: Cllr Catherine Fookes (UK Labour, Monmouthshire)

The UK general election is now in its final stages and while the union-wide result hardly seems in doubt, each constituency and candidate has a story to tell. Here at the Hiraeth Pod we are recording a series of short interviews with new candidates who are contesting constituencies across Wales. These are new faces on the national scene and will no doubt feature in the 2026 Senedd campaign even if unsuccessful this time around. We plan to speak to each of the main parties in Wales, which we consider to be the ones standing in every constituency at the start of the campaign (though since then some have fallen away, as you are no doubt aware). So we will be sharing interviews with Conservative, Plaid Cymru, Green, Reform, Liberal Democrat, and Labour candidates as we try to uphold the values of public service broadcasting in the digital age. In this pod we speak with Cllr Catherine Fookes, who is standing for the Labour Party and seeking to replace David TC Davies as MP in a seat that has a long track record of returning Conservatives. Unseating a Secretary of State would be a significant accomplishment for Labour and the polls indicate that this is a distinct possibility but it is clear that Catherine and the campaign team are taking nothing for granted. You can find Catherine on Twitter/X here: https://twitter.com/CatherineFookes The candidates in Monmouthshire are: Conservative and Unionist Party: David TC Davies England and Wales Green Party: Ian Chandler Heritage Party: Emma Meredith Independent: Owen Lewis Liberal Democrats: Bill Powell Plaid Cymru: Ioan Bellin Reform UK: Max Windsor-Peplow True & Fair Party: June Davies UK Labour: Catherine Fookes As always, you can find the latest from us @hiraethpod on most social media, including Twitter/X here: twitter.com/HiraethPod We hope you find this podcast interesting and useful. Please do send feedback, it's always great to hear what our audience thinks. Thank you for listening to the podcast. If you have enjoyed it, please leave us a nice rating or comment on your podcast app or on YouTube and, if you are able to do so, please consider supporting our work from just £3/month on Patreon: www.patreon.com/hiraethpod