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Last October’s by-election was held in the saddest of circumstances. The loss of a good friend. Hefin was someone who encouraged me to step up and get involved; and I had hoped to be doing so by his side. When I couldn’t, though, I was determined to continue his legacy and speak up for Caerphilly.

But from the moment Nigel Farage said “we’ll throw everything at this,” the by-election stopped being about our community and became London’s story about Reform. On the night, when I stood up on the stage, I had never seen so many cameras in my life! From all over the UK, all focused on our election; but not on Caerphilly. Most were just interested in Reform with hardly any interviewing the actual winner. Instead, the questions were all to the Reform candidate and all about what it meant for Westminster. 

Four months on, we have a chance to do this differently. This spring’s Senedd election is not a single by-election – instead every seat is being contested. The media circus has thankfully moved on; and that gives us the space to make this election about Wales, and the everyday things that actually matter to us.

There’s also another big change.

The voting system is fundamentally different this time. Now, each constituency will elect six members, and seats will be allocated broadly in line with vote share; turning a tight three-way race from a cliffhanger into a fair three-way distribution of seats.  

Which means that tactical voting – such a big component of October’s vote in Caerphilly – is dead. No party can credibly claim that you have to vote for them because “it’s a two-horse race”. No longer will you have to hold your nose and be pressured into voting for a party you don’t really believe in.

So if you’re being told you have to vote a certain way, take a pause. Your vote will count. All votes will matter; so use it to vote for what you think your family and our community really need for the future. 

This new system therefore makes the election a vote for something; not against someone; and so in the coming months, I’ll be out and about making the case for Welsh Labour.

We’ve already seen the difference Welsh Labour can make: free prescriptions, faster help through local pharmacies, new trains on our Rhymney line, building new schools, starting to regenerate our town centres; but that’s just the start!

Wales is at the start of a new chapter, one where we can finally stop firefighting and start building again: new long-term investment to transform rail across Wales; major renewable energy projects creating thousands of skilled jobs; practical steps to bring healthcare closer to home with new local health services and hwbs; and much, much more. All of it to bring about a fairness you can feel. 

So I now look forward to meeting as many of you as I can over the coming weeks and making that case in person.