THE new office for Neil Hamilton AM/AC was opened this evening, Thursday (Mar 9) on John Street Llanelli. Mr and Mrs Hamilton arrived at around 6pm and were met by local UKIP representatives and a fairly large crowd of supporters. Following media interviews Mr Hamilton cut the ribbon and declared the office open. Speaking to Llanelli Online immediately afterwards he said:
I am happy to be in Llanelli for the opening of my office. This is my constituency office. This is where they can pop in and discuss any problems they have like schools, hospitals or social security. Llanelli is very important to me and Llanelli is a place where we can make a significant advance politically. We will be open every day. This is my window on Llanelli and Llanelli’s opportunity to come and use me. That is what I am there for as an Assembly Member to fight for them. If anybody wants to see me I will be in Llanelli on a regular basis and having meetings with people. Llanelli and the area around it is the most urbanised part of my constituency. I have an office in Whitland and I am going to open an office in Brecon and I hope to open yet another office in Mid Wales. I’m giving people an opportunity to meet me in an office context in different parts of the region. If someone has a personal problem then that is the top priority. It will be dealt with if not personally by me then by my staff. If I need to be involved then I will be. I involved myself in the educational issues in Llangennech recently. I have a platform because I can question the First Minister every week. That is a great opportunity for the people of Llanelli. Use me to fight your corner for you.
When asked about UKIP’s chances at the local elections he said:
The whole of Carmarthenshire County Council is up for election so the world is our oyster. We have a very good chance at elections we are making waves locally and nationally. We are 15% up in the polls despite the establishment throwing everything at us. We are very positive and optimistic. We have to campaign the old fashioned way by knocking on doors. Ken Rees is well known locally. That is how you get people elected through their reputation on the ground. We will do the best we can with leafleting.
Christine Hamilton spoke about her passion for Llanelli. She said:
The office is absolutely wonderful but the best thing about it is the spirit and enthusiasm of the staff. I don’t need a reason to come here but I have one more now. You don’t need vast palatial offices. What we want it to be is a focal point where anybody can come in and be able to make contact with Neil. Their message and details will be taken so their problem can be taken up straight away.
Speaking about Neil’s performance at the Assembly she said:
I think Neil has woken things up a bit. Somebody once said to us during the elections, I am delighted that you are going to be elected because the Welsh Assembly would make a glass eye go to sleep. I think anybody, even Neil’s opponents would agree that he has shaken the place up a bit, which is great because the more people that take notice of what is going on at the Welsh Assembly even if it is to shout and scream at their television set all the better. People need to know what is going on because the Welsh Assembly has control over huge swathes of our lives. It is terribly important that people engage with it.
