Parliamentary candidate and suspended Conservative Craig Williams did not attend Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr but was present at the betting stand

Craig Williams was not present at the Machynlletha pre-election meeting on June 27, but a betting shop was there.

Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr electioneering at Ysgol Bro Hyddgen High School hosted five of the six MP candidates after the Conservative Party’s suspended candidate Craig Williams failed to turn up.

A resident has set up a betting stand outside a polling station encouraging people to bet on whether they will turn out to vote after a former MP from Montgomeryshire was suspended following an investigation into alleged voter betting.

Despite the empty seat, the debate was an emotional one, with Nigel Farage’s Reform UK candidate Oliver Lewis regularly facing boos from the audience, who booed, called him a “liar” and shouted when he called refugees “boat people “.

Craig Williams’ empty seat was reserved while the remaining candidates waited for the audition to begin (Deb Luxon)

Political science teacher Mr Lewis caused shock when the candidate compared himself and his party to suffragettes, calling for political reform, and asked heckling party members if they knew the difference between suffragettes and suffragettes.

Liberal Democrat Youth candidate and Llanidloes County Councillor Glyn Preston caused a stir by downplaying the impact of the student debt crisis, while Green Party candidate and Forden and Montgomery County Councillor Jeremy Brignell-Thorp said the UK could not afford to scrap student debt altogether.

However, Cllr Preston slammed Plaid Cymru and Glantwymyn County Councillor Elwyn Vaughan for failing to vote in favour of a proportional representation system when the opportunity arose after Cllr Vaughan spoke out in favour of the new electoral system.

Labor candidate and secondary school teacher Steve Witherden has faced similar criticism from other candidates over Labour’s lack of action to change the two-party system and the party’s “weak” line in calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

A resident set up a betting stall outside Machynlleth’s seat, mocking absentee Tory candidate Craig Williams after he became embroiled in a polling investigation. At the stand you can place bets: “3-1 goes to prison, 5-1 hides in the fridge with Boris, 7-1 does not appear at all.” (Cambrian News)

Mr Witherden claimed to be in favor of greater devolution of powers to Wales, protection for trans youth and recognition of a Palestinian state, while stating that his entire family was environmentally minded, after his father moved with them to Powys in the 1970s to help in the founding of the CAT green hub: “Labour’s Green New Deal will bring in Britain’s great publicly owned energy and the expansion of tidal, solar and wind technologies to cut utility bills.

“The alternative is for Rishi Sunak to throw out net zero – we can’t have that, the planet can’t have that.”

Councillor Vaughan called for polls to be banned during election campaigns and instead focus on the integrity of the person in front of us, advocating for whistleblowers, openness and transparency.

Plaid would end sexual and gender conversion practices, speaking out against polarising politics that restricts conversation and supporting young people struggling to buy a home in the face of student debt: “One of the key issues we have is that the (Barnett) funding formula for Wales does not reflect the need to support our young people in Wales… Lord Barnett himself said it needs reform… if we don’t invest in our young people what will the future be like?”

Cllr Preston said the Lib Dems would support Proportional Representation, transgender identification, an immediate ceasefire in Israel and Palestine and further devolution but “it should not end in Cardiff”.

A group of Palestinian supporters outside the gates of Machynlleth (Deb Luxon)

However, he expressed a warning against full independence, which some may see as a Brexit-like miracle solution: “Decisions made in Cardiff could be bad for this part of the world – power must be devolved from Cardiff to our local councils.

“Decisions made closer to people are ultimately better decisions.”

Cllr Brignell-Thorp called on the Government to “start telling the truth” about the climate crisis by supporting transgender self-identification, but said there was a “needed conversation” about dealing with public toilets and that Green had made clear his call for an immediate ceasefire by Israel and Hamas.

He added: “Nobody joins the Green Party for the fame and money, we are all passionate about creating a world that our children can live in in 20 years…

“The government’s current position is that climate change will be solved by technology and that we don’t need to change our behavior, but that’s not the case, we need to take it seriously and understand the consequences and emphasize the importance of taking action.”

The audience listening and the packed hall at the Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr rallies in Machynlleth (Deb Luxon)

Mr Lewis said Reform UK intended to abolish the House of Lords, nationalize water management to tackle pollution and said Wales needed a “stronger voice in Westminster”, comparable to Scotland and Northern Ireland.

He added that the real victims of the refugee crisis were “real refugees in need of safety”, calling the Rwanda asylum plan a farce and adding that his party was not against data processing in third countries, adding: “Reform UK has an established value that you can live on and let live.

“No trans person has any reason to fear from the powerful Reform UK movement or from me as your MP.”