Deposit to stand as a Parliamentary candidate

My name is Owen Lewis, and I'm a bookseller and local author in Abergavenny.

In 2022, I started the Save Tudor Street campaign, in opposition to Monmouthshire County Council's plans to sell the building. I used to work there with vulnerable adults, and I'd seen for myself how much their services had been cut to the bone since the 2020 COVID pandemic. My work on this campaign eventually led to the founding of The Gathering, a community group that my team set up to replace some of the services that the council has cut, and we hope to get the Tudor Street Building back soon.

The success of the campaign has in some ways been a bit of a surprise, because at the start I was often told we wouldn't get anywhere. The fact that it's become so successful and popular has inspired me to continue my campaigning on other things. I'm very concerned about everything, from local issues like the proposals of new cattle grids in Castle Meadows, to much bigger global things like the awful atrocities being committed on innocent people in the Gaza Strip.

I've dealt with politicians on all sides of the political spectrum, but I've been quite disillusioned with both the Conservative and Labour parties, and I've come to feel that the party system is just not fit for purpose. Representatives, even if they're well-intentioned, are more loyal to their party machinery than they are to local people. I wanted to give people in Monmouthshire an opportunity to get away from all the party politics - to vote for an independent candidate who has their best interests at heart.

I would love to give people the opportunity to vote for me at the 2024 General Election. In order to stand, I need a deposit of £500 - if as many people as possible chip in, we can do this!