We head north and then south to take the political pulse
Conjure up an image of a handsome market town in mid-Wales and Llandovery might be pretty close to the mark. With an attractive centre and surrounded by countryside draped in spring green it’s one of several towns in the new Sir Gaerfyrddin constituency where parties are vying for your vote ahead of the May 7 Senedd election.
On a bright Monday morning a biker sits outside a café with a rocky road cake the size of a small brick, independent shops display their wares, and blue plaques celebrate Llandovery’s storied past.
Just over 30 miles to the south is a different type of town – Llanelli – bigger, grittier and synonymous with industry, pockets of stubborn deprivation, and ongoing attempts to reinvigorate its commercial centre. And not forgetting some wonderful coastline.
Both towns are in Sir Gaerfyrddin – one of 16 constituencies where six Members of the Senedd will each be returned to form a 96-strong parliament via a form of proportional representation rather than winner-takes-all.
Priorities among urban and rural voters who spoke to the Local Democracy Reporting Service were different although affordable housing and good jobs were common themes among younger people from both towns.
Encouraging more footfall into Llandovery was uppermost in Ruth Lane’s mind although she adds: “There has been a lot been regeneration and it’s made a difference to the town. It looks like it’s being cared for.”
Her shop Relay Vintage sells clothing, jewellery, ceramics and artwork and she attends monthly Llandovery Business Forum meetings. She would like more support and protection for farmers and isn’t a fan of a proposed electricity pylon route running west of the town from a planned energy park down to a grid connection point south of Carmarthen.
“They need to find a way to do it in a less intrusive way,” she says. “There aren’t many areas of countryside like this. We need to preserve it.”
The pylon issue is a hot topic, and Barbara Price, who lives in nearby Cynghordy, is unequivocal – the electricity cables, she says, should be put underground instead. “If you go to other parts of the UK everything is going underground,” she says.
The company proposing the pylon route, Green GEN Cymru, has shifted it further away from Llandovery compared to its previous 2024 route alignment. It’s also proposed using wood poles rather than steel pylons along a section near its starting point and burying cables underground along a stretch to the south near Llanarthney.
Mrs Price also isn’t keen on any new housing unless supporting infrastructure such as health services are in place. She adds: “I’m not excited about the election, but I will vote.” Stay informed on Carms news by signing up to our newsletter here
Warren Ashton says he’s more likely to vote than not and senses that things might be different once the election dust has settled. “It wouldn’t harm to have a change and see what they (the Senedd) can do,” he says. Any key priorities on his mind? “The 20mph speed limit,” he replies. “And the cost of fuel. I’m a volunteer car driver with the ambulance service, picking up patients to and from hospital. I do 800 to 900 miles a week.”
For 20-year-old hospitality worker Katie Jones housing costs are “100%” the main issue. “I’ve worked since I was 12, through GCSEs and have always been conscious about money,” she says. “I still live at home with my mum.”
Katie says suitable starter housing is in short supply in Llandovery. “You get older houses for sale that need a lot of restoration,” she says. Although Llandovery will always be her home she reckons she’ll move to a city.
Other voters say getting the basics right like good wi-fi need attention and that better public transport and more home-grown food are required. “Most farmers and people just want stability,” says one woman.
Mark Stevens acknowledges the hard graft put in by farmers and reckons they have considerable influence as voters. His particular concern is that badger culling might be introduced in Wales and is firmly of the view that it wouldn’t be an effective way of reducing bovine tuberculosis.
It’s another sensitive subject, and not one likely to come up in Llanelli. “It shocks me – just follow the science,” says Mr Stevens.
Sir Gaerfyrddin’s population is around 191,000 according to the Office for National Statistics, and just over a quarter are aged 65 or older – a little higher than the Welsh average.
Its unemployment rate is above the Welsh average but not by much according to data from June 2025; rates of low satisfaction with life are slightly lower compared to the rest of Wales; and for those who love their stats, 39% per cent of its residents reported eating five portions of fruit and veg every day in 2024-25 compared to a Welsh average of 33%.
The coast path at Llanelli has stunning views across the Burry Inlet and people like Helen Conners are enjoying the spring sunshine. She is with her daughter and granddaughter and worries about so-called corridor care in Welsh hospitals. She also wants more access to NHS dentistry. “That’s a massive thing for me,” she says.
Mrs Conners also mentions potholes and train delays and, although “things have been a bit better lately” on the train front, she isn’t convinced that big changes are coming. “I just think whoever’s in charge it will keep going the same way,” she says.
Mandy Lane says it behoves politicians to achieve things. “Of course they can – that’s their job, to make things better and make people think more positively about their surroundings,” she says.
Big issues for her are the promotion of grassroots arts and sport and also deep frustration that her son, Sol, 24, doesn’t qualify for a benefit called personal independence payment despite, she says, his very strong eligibility credentials. “We are going through a tribunal,” she says.
Teenager Ioan Jones works full-time and is looking to carve out new opportunities. He’s been looking out for a project management apprenticeship and is now leaning towards training as a commercial pilot.
“There are training programmes out there but they’re very competitive,” he says. “I feel like you’ve got to go out there and create the opportunities yourself.” The 18-year-old is registered to vote and is still in the “undecided” camp.
Pensioner Keith Thomas says he used to be very politically-minded. “Not so much now – I grin and bear it,” he says. The NHS is a big focus for him and his wife. He says he had fantastic care following a cancer diagnosis 10 years ago. “But what it’s like now I don’t know,” he says. “My daughter suggests I should look at private healthcare but I don’t want to on principle. I’ve worked all my life. I have paid my dues.”
Mr Thomas recognises housing pressures facing younger people. “I can only help my children so much,” he says. “I wish I was a millionaire and could buy everyone a house.”
Owen Luggeri-Williams moved back to the area after a seven-year stint in London, where he says high housing costs more than offset better wages. He and his partner are renting in Pwll, just west of Llanelli. “We want to buy somewhere,” he says.
Education, public transport and energy costs are also important to him. “Wales is a big producer of clean energy, but our bills are higher than they were in London,” he says. “But I think clean energy has to be promoted. Fossil fuels are not going to last forever.”
Voters will get one ballot paper and can vote for either a political party or an individual candidate. The Senedd has powers over things like education, health, housing, the environment and some aspects of transport, energy and taxation.
With six seats per constituency up for grabs and a new voting system which will use a mathematical formula to distribute seats based on the proportion of votes won by each party, the 2026 Senedd election is a break from the past.
“In theory it should effect the turnout,” says associate professor of psychology Paul Hutchings, of University of Wales Trinity Saint David. “Every vote carries at least some weight.”
Prof Hutchings, whose area of expertise is social psychology, says the public tended to “vote for change in times of flux”, and that people’s experience of economic pain or uncertainty didn’t necessarily mean they looked deeply into the causes. “They start looking for people to blame,” he says. And this makes it tricky, he adds, for whoever’s in charge currently.
Election research in Wales shows that young people are less likely to vote, with the rate rising to a peak among 75 to 79-year-olds.
“There’s still very much a view that young people are not engaged enough for politicians, or they don’t feel politics is necessarily relevant to them,” says Prof Hutchings. “The underlying principle about how people approach politics in Wales needs an overhaul. Engagement in school is such an important thing.”
Whether that alters what motivates people to vote is a different story. Prof Hutchings’ view is that people are selfish to a certain extent and say the things that make them look best. “I tend to view people from a point of view that they’re not altruistic,” he says.
All the candidate and parties are available on our constituency guide.
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