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Voters next week should put their trust in experienced representatives who know their communities best, according to Jayne Bryant, Welsh Labour’s candidate for the Casnewydd Islwyn constituency.

Labour is hoping to hold on to power in the Senedd despite rivals insisting it’s time for change.

It argues it is the best party to deliver “ambition and fairness” based on financially responsible policies and decisions, rather than outlandish or uncosted pledges.

But Labour faces criticism after being in power for 27 years, with other parties pointing to NHS waiting lists, child poverty and educational outcomes as evidence why new leadership is needed.

Ms Bryant said some conversations with Casnewydd Islwyn’s voters had been “challenging”, but added more people were “genuinely pleased that somebody’s knocking the door, and they are keen to have that conversation”.

Ahead of polling day, she wanted to remind people living in the constituency that they will be voting for “who you want to represent you locally”.

“It’s not just thinking about the party, it’s about those representatives and what they’re going to do, where they’re from and who they are,” she said.

“I’ve grown up here, I was born and brought up here, and my colleagues are based here as well. We’ve got reputations for helping people and being part of the community, and that’s why I’m in politics. I care about the community that I want to represent.”

Recent opinion polls suggest Labour is languishing behind Plaid Cymru and Reform nationally, and may even be in a fight to receive the third-highest vote share in May.

Among Labour’s opponents of all backgrounds, there is the same demand for change at the top.

Ms Bryant said the Welsh Government had navigated the Covid-19 pandemic and rising inflation in the past Senedd term, as well as dealing with the ongoing effects of austerity policies brought in by the Conservatives in Westminster.

However, it is policy areas devolved to the Welsh Government which have drawn frequent criticism in the build-up to this election – Labour’s record on education and health is frequently called out, and some parties have railed against the implementation of the 20mph default speed limit on the nation’s roads.

The most recent NHS performance figures showed waiting lists had shortened but were still above some of the government’s own targets.

Ms Bryant defended her party’s record, saying Labour had “managed to drive down” waiting lists “through investment and all the hard working people in our NHS”.

“Now, if you’re waiting and you’ve been in pain, that is just not a good place to be,” she accepted. “So we’ve really focused on that, we’ve gotten on top of that, they’ve come down month after month.”

She agreed with her party leader Eluned Morgan that the funding “taps have been turned on” since Labour’s general election victory ushered in a more harmonious relationship between Welsh and UK-level decision-makers.

“That means now we can really focus on putting the investment in, instead of doing what we [had to] do to protect public services in Wales through austerity, which was really, really tough,” Ms Bryant said.

If elected, she said she will focus on “bread and butter” issues linked to the cost of living, including fair bus prices, new jobs, better heated homes, and more childcare – as well as regeneration of the area’s high streets, in collaboration with Newport and Caerphilly councils.

“I know from living and growing up here, what Newport used to be like,” she said. “All town centres have changed, our shopping habits have changed.

“We have to make sure that we are doing everything we can to make those centres mean something to people.

“It’s been tough through austerity, and we’ve had things like high inflation that have meant it’s become really difficult. We have to really make sure that we’re bringing those communities back to life.”

Ms Bryant sees the Casnewydd Islwyn election as a two-way battle between Labour and Reform, and believes her party has resisted making “promises they can’t keep”.

She wants voters to have patience with Labour – something she said was “absolutely not” about “standing still”, but instead about “offering hope and showing that we’ve got a track record in delivering”.

“Others will make promises, but we know what it’s like to be in government and we know things sometimes take a bit longer than we’d all like,” she said. “But we know that we’re set in that direction and we really do want to crack on.”

Jayne Bryant’s pitch to the voters of Casnewydd Islwyn

“We’ve got a track record of delivering and being close to people. I want to make sure no one is left behind. We don’t over-promise – we over-deliver, and we will always stand up for people in this area. I passionately believe that if you can stick with us, we will deliver the next chapter, the next stage for us, and I believe we won’t leave anyone behind.”

Full list of candidates in Casnewydd Islwyn

Welsh Conservatives (six candidates)

• 1. Natasha Asghar
• 2. Toby Jones
• 3. Jake Enea
• 4. Georgie Webb
• 5. Adam Morris
• 6. Rebecca Mamhende

Green Party (six candidates)

• 1. Lauren James
• 2. Philip Davies
• 3. Zaynab Greengrass
• 4. Kerry Vosper
• 5. David Mayer
• 6. Andrew Were

Heritage Party (one candidate)

• 1. Mike Ford

Open Party (two candidates)

• 1. Justna Muhith
• 2. John Horan

Plaid Cymru (six candidates)

• 1. Peredur Owen Griffiths
• 2. Lyn Ackerman
• 3. Rhys Mills
• 4. Joshua Rawcliffe
• 5. Jonathan Clark
• 6. Sarah Henton

Reform UK (six candidates)

• 1. Dan Thomas
• 2. Art Wright
• 3. Marie-Claire Lea
• 4. Nick Jones
• 5. Rebecca Senior
• 6. Tomos Llewelyn

Welsh Labour (seven candidates)

• 1. Jayne Bryant
• 2. Rhianon Passmore
• 3. Chris Carter
• 4. Rhian Howells
• 5. Julie Sangani
• 6. Stephen Marshall
• 7. David Chinnick

Welsh Liberal Democrats (six candidates)

• 1. Mike Hamilton
• 2. John Miller
• 3. Nurul Islam
• 4. Harun Rashid
• 5. Mary Lloyd
• 6. Jeff Evans

Individual candidates (one)

• Taran Clayton