Llanelli Easter Election Trail: Political Parties Flock to Town Centre to Meet and Greet Easter Shoppers

Llanelli town centre was bustling on Easter Saturday morning. While shoppers were hunting last minute Easter eggs, parties from across the political spectrum were hunting supporters.

The Welsh Conservatives, Green, Labour and Socialist parties were all in the town centre to speak with the community. Both the Welsh Conservatives and Socialist party were in town to seek public support for a specific causes. While the Conservatives sought signatures for the party’s “one hour free town centre parking” petition, the focus of the Socialist party was to secure signatures for its “stop council cuts” petition. The West Wales Chronicle understands that both petitions will be submitted to Carmarthenshire County Council at a later date.

Llanelli Westminster candidates, Selaine Saxby (Conservatives) and Guy Smith (Greens), joined party campaigners in the town centre. Both candidates aimed to bring a touch of fun to the centre and party campaign.

The Conservatives hoped to sprinkle some political magic by fronting their stall with a gigantic red dragon. The Greens chose to showcase the skills of Llanelli parliamentary candidate, Guy Smith. Mr Smith, a former circus master, surprised shoppers by juggling his way through the campaign morning.

The political messages the parties delivered to the public were very different but each agreed that, in the age of social media, coming into the town centre to meet and greet members of the public is still an important part of political campaigning.

For the Socialist party, campaigning in the town centre was not just about spreading awareness of the party’s policies but to appeal for donations to the campaign fund of Llanelli Trade Union and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) candidate, Scott Jones. One of the Socialist party members collecting donations said: “no business is bankrolling the Socialist party. We rely entirely on donations.”