The UK general election is now in its final stages and while the union-wide result hardly seems in doubt, each constituency and candidate has a story to tell.

Here at the Hiraeth Pod we are recording a series of short interviews with new candidates who are contesting constituencies across Wales. These are new faces on the national scene and will no doubt feature in the 2026 Senedd campaign even if unsuccessful this time around.

We plan to speak to each of the main parties in Wales, which we consider to be the ones standing in every constituency at the start of the campaign (though since then some have fallen away, as you are no doubt aware). So we will be sharing interviews with Conservative, Plaid Cymru, Green, Reform, Liberal Democrat, and Labour candidates as we try to uphold the values of public service broadcasting in the digital age.

In this pod we speak with Cllr Catherine Fookes, who is standing for the Labour Party and seeking to replace David TC Davies as MP in a seat that has a long track record of returning Conservatives. Unseating a Secretary of State would be a significant accomplishment for Labour and the polls indicate that this is a distinct possibility but it is clear that Catherine and the campaign team are taking nothing for granted.

You can find Catherine on Twitter/X here: https://twitter.com/CatherineFookes

The candidates in Monmouthshire are:

Conservative and Unionist Party: David TC Davies

England and Wales Green Party: Ian Chandler

Heritage Party: Emma Meredith

Independent: Owen Lewis

Liberal Democrats: Bill Powell

Plaid Cymru: Ioan Bellin

Reform UK: Max Windsor-Peplow

True & Fair Party: June Davies

UK Labour: Catherine Fookes

As always, you can find the latest from us @hiraethpod on most social media, including Twitter/X here: twitter.com/HiraethPod

We hope you find this podcast interesting and useful. Please do send feedback, it's always great to hear what our audience thinks.

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