Plaid Cymru has selected Ron Davies as the party’s candidate for a vacancy in the Bedwas, Trehomas and Machen ward of Caerphilly County Borough Council.
The by-election, which was caused by the death of respected, campaigning Labour councillor Ray Davies, will be held on Thursday, September 3.
Ron Davies, a former Labour Secretary of State for Wales and Caerphilly MP, served as a Cabinet member in the last Plaid Cymru administration on the borough council while a councillor for Bedwas, Trethomas and Machen.
Mr Davies previously lost the seat in the 2012 local council election and is currently commercial manager with Bedwas RFC.
Machen-born Ron Davies is widely regarded as the architect of devolution in Wales and led the campaign to create the National Assembly for Wales, which was established in 1999.
He was first elected as a councillor in 1969 to the former Machen Urban District Council at the age of 23 and a year later he became the youngest council leader in Britain at the age of just 24.
Mr Davies said: “Local government is a minefield of obstacles to most people and this will get worse if the Labour party does away with Caerphilly County and merges it into Wales’ largest council of new “Gwent”. I will fight these plans and fight to keep government as close to the people, as possible.
“I will ensure that I am accessible and available in the ward and use my strength and experience to stand up for ordinary people,” added Ron Davies.
- There is also a by-election on the same day in the Trecenydd ward of the Penyrheol, Trecenydd and Energlyn Community Council.
This is the best news for Plaid, and Labour supporters for three years.
It is also the first time residents in the ward will have to show Labour that there is a better local alternative to a spent force, keep them in check, and make them answer for their actions, Ron is the man to do it.
And of course the seat was held by Ron`s very good life long friend Ray Davies before his sdden and untimely passing recently, who, when others in the Labour party were stabbing Ron in the back. Ray`s foresight led him to believe that Ron was a reliable and consumate politician and NOTHING had changed that, Ray maintained a huge and longstanding respect and support for Ron.
Ray`s legacy would be well served by the election of Ron, and, it would allow Ron to continue his contribution for the benefit of local residents.
Ron is an inclusive and wise politician and we need more like him, lets hope we can all welcome him back, wherever we reside in the borough and we would all be better off for it, come on Bedwas and Trethomas residents do the business for the whole of the boroughs residents.
Is this the same Ron Davies that duplicitously ran as an independent a few years ago and then joined Plaid? If the people of BTM wanted a Plaid councillor then they would have voted for one.
Yes it is the same Ron. In my opinion joining Plaid was a mistake by Ron who won the 2008 election in style as an independent. He lost votes, and his seat, at the 2012 election. He is now compounding the error by standing once more for Plaid Cymru.
All of this means nothing and, in the end, it is up to the people of Bedwas to decide who it is they want to represent them.
Actually, you are correct Richard, the residents of Bedwas and Trethomas will decide who they want to represent them in the council Chamber, Ron Davies is/was probably the best advocate for his constituents in the whole of the Borough, the policial flag he chooses to wave remains academic in local government terms.
No other local politician comes up to his knees, personal mistakes aside, bad personal judgments aside, he has NEVER failed in his political duty to his constituents. Everyone should remember he did not turn his back on the Labour Party they turned their back on him, Plaid Cymru acted in an inclusive way, alien to the local Labour Party.
We, the constituents of Caerphilly, then ended up with a second rate Labour MP who was the first to stab his leader in the back in favour of? Gordon Brown, and history will show, a third rate AM who has never done much really, certainly not for Caerphilly.The people of B&T will decide who is best to represent them. And, hopefully raise the quality of political dabate in the Caerphilly CBC chamber for the benefit of all Council ratepayers.
Just to correct Mr Vaughan on a few matters of accuracy. The Labour Party did not turn their back on Ron Davies; he choose to leave (let his membership lapse I believe). He then joined Forward Wales (remember them). He did win a seat on CCBC as an Independent but promptly linked up with Plaid. He finally joined Plaid to be their Assembly candidate but lost quite badly. Finally did stand with Clayton Jones as Plaid candidates in BTM in 2012 but was heavily defeated by Ray Davies and three other Labour candidates.
So when Mr Vaughan refers to him as an “inclusive” politician I assume that he means bringing parties together by joining them one after the other!
I am sure you will correct me if I am wrong Jeff, pity you were not as quick and efficient to respond to correspondence from your constituents, but, to explain why I stated Ron Davies is an `inclusive` politician, he never failed to represent his constituents to the full, he never shirked a problem taken to him by constituents, he was not one to simple `pass on the problem` unlike our current incumbants who are more sign posts and not supporters of their constituents unless the cause is close to them. He represented everyone with the same professional approach, and never side stepped any problem.
In respect to Labour `turning their back` on Ron, you know how that happened Jeff, because you were in the chair on that fateful Friday night, “resign or be deselected”, and you dont need to guess who the beficiary of that course of action was, nor do we. An absolutely disgraceful performance by an exclusive (sic) group of labour suits, in a smoke filled dark back room, accuser, jury, and the hanging judges.
An episode NOT to be proud of. Plaid Cymru have acted in a responsible and inclusive way, and good on them for doing so, let the people decide, and, those who are giving up office stand aside and go quietly, time spent.
it is of course the case that an AM, MP or Councillor, no matter how vigilant and dedicated, will not be able to solve every problem brought by of a constituent, and can, at times, only provide information or “pass on” the issue to another Authority. I’m absolutely certain that this is not the case routinely as Mr Vaughan suggests. I will not discuss individual constituent’s issues over an open social media site but my Office is open to Mr Vaughan if he wishes to provide me with further details.
In terms of the “Fateful Friday” that he mentions I must tell him that I do not recognise the description at all. None of the other local Party Officers would recognise it either. We were not a group of “Labour suits”. Rather we were just ordinary working people that gave our spare willingly to work for Labour. And it was certainly not a “smoke filled dark back room”! I wonder from whom he could of got this description from???
Jeff, events of the `Friday of the long knives`, were widly reported in the press, and, for the purposes of this debate, dont forget the continued popularity and respect many local residents hold Ron Davies.Which ever particular banner he stands beneath.