The key election issues that people who live, work and spend time in Mumbles are talking about

Richard Youle

24 June 2024 at 6:47 am·8-min read

Walking around a seaside village saturated in June sunlight it's tempting to think the taxing issues facing Wales and the UK are far away. People in Mumbles greet each other, tourists clasp ice creams, hanging baskets are drenched in colour, and the smell of fresh coffee percolates onto the streets. The white heat of the general election seems distant.

But dig a little deeper and there's barely concealed frustration among some about decisions taken in Wales and concern from business owners about roadworks, parking, and the length of time it's due to take for the new Mumbles seawall to be completed. As novelist Leo Tolstoy didn't quite write, all happy constituencies are alike; each unhappy constituency is unhappy in its own way.

Mumbles is part of the Gower constituency, which has moved to the right - geographically-speaking - following a nationwide review of Parliamentary boundaries. In comes Swansea suburbs such as Cockett, Dunvant, and Killay. The diverse constituency includes Mawr - a sparsely-populated upland area in the north of Swansea - Pontarddulais, a ward of just under 5,000 people bordering Carmarthenshire, and affluent south Gower villages like Southgate. Mumbles is a sought-after area with many independent shops and wonderful beaches over the hill at Langland and Caswell. People who shared their views about the general election looming on July 4 wanted more NHS appointments and better patient outcomes. Growing the economy was also high on the list; reducing net migration came lower.

Clive Roberts, 58, said he'd always had good experiences with the NHS - a devolved area in Wales - but that he'd had gone private for a knee operation after being advised of a five-year waiting list. Referring to finances and the cost of living on the day inflation (in May) fell to 2% Mr Roberts said: "I think people forget what's happened in the last few years - Brexit, Covid, Ukraine - there have been a lot of external pressures."

Kate Franks, 50, said affordable homes were badly needed. "Young people have had to move away from a lot of seaside towns," she said. Business owner Naomi Gibbs, 52, said there was a perception that Mumbles looked "a mess" due to the seawall rebuild and roadworks in Mumbles Road. "I think people really need to listen the businesses," she said.

Ten people answered these two questions from the Local Democracy Reporting Service:

1) Rank the following issues in order of importance: building more homes, better public transport, reducing net migration, more NHS appointments and better outcomes for patients, reducing cost-of-living pressures, action to tackle and adapt to climate change, and growing the economy.

2) What motivates you the most and least when it comes to actually voting: voting for a particular party, voting for a particular candidate, what's best for the constituency you live in, what's best for the country, and what's best for your own economic circumstances?