Councillors switch to new party

Richard Youle, Local democracy reporter.

Two Swansea councillors have joined the Liberal Democrats in their second switch since being elected four years ago.

Former maths teachers Sandra Joy and Allan Jeffery said they felt the party had momentum and they could have more impact with a Liberal Democrat team behind them.

The two Uplands councillors were unveiled at an event alongside Cllr Sam Bennett, who is seeking election to the Senedd in May, and the party’s only Senedd member, Jane Dodds, who said she was “fed up with being Billy no mates”.

Cllrs Joy and Jeffery were elected as Uplands Party candidates in 2022. Last year they became Independents.

Cllr Joy, who used to be deputy head teacher at Morriston Comprehensive School, said the more the duo had networked the more they had more in common with Lib-Dems and what she said was their community-based ethos.

She added: “They can take on Labour, they can stand up to Reform (UK).” Referring to constituents in their Uplands ward, she said: “We feel we can do more for them.”

Cllr Jeffery is a returning Lib-Dem having run unsuccessfully for election for the party in Swansea’s Castle ward in 2012 and Uplands in 2017. The Lib-Dems now have 13 councillors out of 75.

“We are not going to change, to metamorphasise,” said Cllr Jeffery. “I believe we are fairly well respected in the community.”

Asked if they had faced any pushback among constituents for their switch, Cllr Joy said: “Surprisingly, no. I think they look at us and see we do so much in the community. I think that has taken over.”

Welcoming the duo at the event at Brynmill Community Centre, Welsh Liberal Democrat leader Ms Dodds emphasised how important the community was for them.

Looking ahead, the party is fielding the maximum six candidates in all 16 new-look constituencies for the Senedd elections where voters will elect 96 members to the chamber.

Ms Dodds she felt excitement and optimism. Asked how many MSs she reckoned the party could potentially end up with after the count on May 7, she didn’t offer a number but said: “A Liberal Democrat in every part of Wales.”

Ms Dodds said the party stood for free childcare, a growing economy with skills opportunities, tackling pollution in rivers and beaches, and more investment in social care paid for in the short term if required with an extra penny on income tax.

Asked how much money this would raise, she said £330 million. “It’s not enough but it would be ring-fenced for local authorities for (hospital) discharge planning and for keeping people at home.”

Cllr Bennett, who represents Swansea’s Waterfront ward and is standing as an  Gwyr Abertawe candidate in May, said many voters he’d been speaking to while campaigning were “shopping around for something different”.

He said: “A lot of people are undecided. They’re worried about Reform and are unhappy about Labour and the Conservatives.” Asked if particular issues were cropping up, he replied: “Potholes, potholes, potholes.”

A YouGov/ITV Wales poll last month had Plaid Cymru with 37% of the vote, Reform UK with 23%, Wales Green Party with 13%, Welsh Labour and the Welsh Conservatives with 10%, the Welsh Liberal Democrats with 5%, and “others” on 2%.