Senedd21: Tina Roberts | Liberal Democrats | Preseli Pembrokeshire

TINA ROBERTS
LIBERAL DEMOCRATS CANDIDATE – PRESELI PEMBROKESHIRE

1. Tell us about yourself:

My father was in the hospitality industry, so I grew up in hotels all across the UK and went to lots of schools as a consequence. We always seemed to move before I could quite finish the sewing project, play a part in the school play or participate in sports day but I loved the hospitality trade and the people that came from all over the world to work in the 24/7 service industry.

Leaving sixth form I embarked upon a career as a press photographer covering large parts of the South West of England and meeting many politicians both good and bad. Ten years later Ian and I started a family and went on to have four children all now grown up and living all over the UK.

I returned to university and graduated in Biochemistry, moving into teaching. I went on to lead the higher education provision within a large college in the north of England but have now moved to a beautiful part of Carmarthenshire, taking a job teaching in a secondary school.

2. What is the most important thing you think the Senedd should do in the next five years?

The next five years will be all about ‘putting recovery first’. It will be about ensuring that we build 30,000 new social homes that function as green power-stations reducing bills for their occupants. We will fund small town recovery in the way that residents of the area want.

We won’t know if this pandemic has changed people’s working patterns until we begin to emerge, but we can plan to support small businesses to thrive, build back high streets to support their communities and financially support our agricultural communities as they transition away from the Common Agricultural Policy. 

Finally, we will have a lot of work to do to build on Kirsty Williams’ work to narrow the educational gap that has emerged over the last year and continue to put the education of our children at the forefront of all that we do.

3. What will you do for your constituency/region if elected?

Preseli Pembrokeshire stands on the brink of some significant changes as the ‘land bridge’ takes significantly less freight and we fight to maintain our two ferry ports in the face of calls from Ireland to pick just one. I will hold the current Conservatives to account for their hollow promises on ‘Business as usual’.

I will continue to support our food standards in the face of the Conservatives paving the way for chlorinated chicken to be sold here. I believe that we need to maintain a much closer relationship in the shape of a Customs Union Plus with our closest trading bloc in order to allow seamless fast movement of products across borders to support a Welsh economic recovery.