Gerald Francis
Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for The Rhondda
Gerald Francis
My father was a miner in the Llynfi Valley and I now live locally in Gilfach Goch, in the Rhondda and Ogmore constituency. I’m married and have four daughters and seven grandchildren.
My working life was in the plumbing and heating industry, of which the most enjoyable aspect has been that of helping others - from getting peoples heating working in the middle of winter to training the next generation of plumbers and also retraining servicemen and women who’ve been made redundant or finished their service.
For 12 years I have served actively as a County and District Councillor and I was also a member of a Community Health Council for 8 years.
If elected as the MP for The Rhondda
I will put recovery first for our Valleys. I will fight to ensure that carers in our community are properly supported and are paid the real living wage. I will fight to ensure that the extra funding our education services have received is maintained in line with inflation. I will work constructively with local councils to improve our town and village centres along with our local leisure facilities. I will fight for local transport services to be retained. I will also champion local regeneration initiatives to make our valleys a more attractive place to live, with the aspiration of attracting new jobs and investment.
I can also see that there is a greater need to support victims of violence and bullying especially all forms of domestic abuse.
Additionally, the Welsh National Health Service has much to commend it buts needs to be resourced to be able to provide all the services that we should expect, on time and in purpose-built facilities. I want waiting times cut especially for the most urgent cases. We need to ensure we train enough medical staff for the future as well as making sure we have enough critical care and urgent care beds.
I want to see greater investment to reduce the risk of flooding, especially here in the Valleys. This can, in part, be achieved via the fight against climate change, by creating new jobs through construction and flood prevention schemes.
Finally, I have come to believe the best way of achieving these aspirations is through a truly independent Wales.
