Interview by James Roberts

Joe Roberts, you’re a candidate for the Conservative Party for Caerdydd Fynon Taf. Could you introduce yourself?

Hi, yeah, so I’m Joe Roberts as you said I’m one of the candidates here, but I also have the quite unique distinction of being also a student here at Cardiff Uni. I’ve been given the honour of running its election because as a student. I feel we make up 20% of Cardiff’s population. And, of course, a very significant part of Wales’s economy in general.

We are the people who will be inheriting this next Senedd of Wales, and we just want to make sure that we have got the policies and the people that can deliver for the future generations.

Have you always been a conservative before you came to university, for example?

Yeah, so I joined the Conservative Party when I was 17. When I was in sixth form, my secondary school teacher, who was a former counsellor, and he encouraged us all to join a political party to get involved, because when studying politics it is good to be a part of it, to understand what you’re writing about. 


And I researched all the parties, and I found the Conservatives, were my home, I believed i their ideas of meritocracy. They’re ideas of low taxation and also the ideas of being able to, succeed if you can work hard and put in the graft.

Many people listening to this interview will probably think the Conservative Party, they’re not my first choice. What’s it been like of campaigning for the Conservative Party with that history?
Because this is being seen as the first election where the so-called two-party system is breaking down or maybe we’ve got a new two-party system. So what pitch have you got to people with that legacy?

So, I mean, you’re right to raise a legacy. 
I mean, 14 years isn’t just a record you can overturn. We’ve been very honest. Kemi’s been very honest that in the last 14 years have made mistakes. But it’s about taking accountability for that, looking at what’s gone wrong in the past and being able to move on from that to how we can deliver for the future. 


When I was out earlier, speaking to people on the doors at Lisvane . And it, as you said, it’s no longer a two-party system. 
It’s now a 6-horse race, especially in Wales, with this new voter system. It’s about making sure we’re electing conservative voices to represent the people who share the same beliefs as us. And when you speak to people, explain our policies, our policies regarding education, regarding healthcare, all of which had been devolved and under Labour and Plaid’s control for the last 27 years. We have costed policies, policies ready to implement, able to deliver for all of Wales.

I suppose people might think, though, if I’m conservative-leaning, why don’t I just vote for reform? They seem to have the wind in their sail, so to speak. Why not go with them?

Because Reform are just hot air. They’re offering these promises, they’re trying to appeal to emotion, all of these talking points are not offering credible solutions. They won seats in England, they’ve won councils, they’ve made these grand promises of cutting Council Tax. They’ve got elected to these councils on these promises, and then they’ve suddenly reversed all of them.

They’ve clearly shown, despite all these promises, they are not a credible party. 
They are all full of hot air, jumping from issue point to issue point, just trying to talk votes. In Scotland, for instance, Nigel Farage has said we can look at the idea of a Scottish independence referendum, whereas previously having stated, he was strong unionist. This is someone who’s not credible, someone who’s not serious. This is someone who’s gone from issue to issue just to try and gain further support. 


But I suppose people might look at the Conservative Party in Wales with Andrew RT Davie for example, using similar sound bites all the time. I think I saw something on Facebook that he’d put out, about foreign meat being served in schools in the valley. So, is there much distinction really in policy terms between the two parties now?

Well, we were quite shocked to see that they had pretty much copied our manifesto near on word for word, but I think it’s important to note how Reform are jumping on issues that we have been campaigning for and campaigning against for a while.

I know Andrew, I’ve met him before, and it’s important to know the Conservative Party is a very broad church with diverse opinions and diverse views. But I think on the key elements, we are all the same, like on the importance of low taxation, of reliable public services, and we are also a unionist party. We believe in the current unionist settlement and that it can work for the people of Wales if employed correctly.

What is the conservative aim for students?We’re appealing to students in this interview. There are lots of specific issues which apply to us as a demographic, such as housing, rising cost of living, that sort of stuff. So, what pitch does the Conservative Party have to students in Cardiff?

Well, I’m quite proud to say that the Conservative Party has a lot of promises and a lot of policies for students, especially university students. I think we are a group that definitely has our votes are taken for granted, and I think it’s very important that our voices are heard. One thing we’re looking at is a tuition fee refunding for those studying medicine, dentistry, nursing, or teaching, granted that they go on to work 5 years in Wales, supporting our Welsh services, and also helping them to reduce the stress on them with that student loan. 


We’re also looking at piloting a tuition discount for those studying STEM degrees. Making sure we’re getting that good level of education and those technical degrees that could go forth to provide better education and also better growth and development for Wales.

Tuition was something that came in under the coalition. So, in effect, the tuition rises came in under the Conservatives, which were unprecedented in the history of students. The level of debt that you would find in our demographic is a lot higher than it would have been 20 or 30 years ago. So, some people might be listening and thinking, “well, you know, you’ve done this damage, and now you’re telling me that you’re going to try and reverse it, that’s not the mark of an honest political party.”

I wouldn’t say that’s a very fair assumption. I don’t think it’s a case of reversing it, but trying to make it work so everyone can have the best chance. The people who want to go on and succeed, especially for those in medicine, in these technical grades, which are supporting saving the lives of so many people, that they have that opportunity to. Those degrees that have been proven to go forth and provide to this country, whether that’s in technical elements or public service, they’re not held back by tuition fees.

Like I said, we have made mistakes. It’s about making sure we can take accountability and create growth for Wales.

The damage has been done right, so is there a trust issue with your party now?

Well, I wouldn’t like to think so. As I said, those last 14 years have been difficult and we are holding our head up. We apologise for our mistakes. We understand there were mistakes, but it’s about rebuilding that trust and listening to people. In Cardiff especially, I’ve been to so many places, and whether people have turned around and said, “I’m going to vote for you”, or “I’m going to”, I want to listen to their concerns. I want to listen to what they think is going wrong in Wales, what’s going wrong in Cardiff.

And people have told me to fob off but I don’t mind because at the day’s end, these are people that we will be elected to represent if we are so lucky. Whether you vote for us or not, we are hearing your concerns, we can act on them and make sure that you are having a better time.

Now, moving on from tuition fees, let’s say that you were elected, to Fynon Taf. Which admittedly, the polls suggest may not be the case.If you are, what are you going to say to the management of Cardiff University? How do you feel that our university is running at the moment? 


I feel that if we look at Cardiff University, they are a very interesting case. Their overall turnover for the last year was roughly 650 million pounds. I think what we need to look at is transparency. Where is that where is this money being spent? Because Cardiff University provides incredible education and research to so many people, and it’s internationally renowned. We need to make sure that we are working with them so we can deliver for both the students and the country. 


And, like I said, with research, on a global scale as well, It’s about holding them to account where they need to be, but also about cooperation, to try and pursue both of our interests.

 Do you think that they’re overpaid?

Um, who specifically?

The management of the University.

I think if you’re going to be specific with individuals, I’m sure in any case…I’m going to jump to the NHS, we want to make sure that any overpaid managers there are held to account. Because if they’re not delivering for the NHS, not delivering as hospital managers, they shouldn’t be employed.

So you were drawing an analogy between them.

I would say it’s important to note that when they are paid that much and so many people are reliant on them, they are providing the service they are expected to.

And moving on from the institutional side of university, a lot of people suffer with bad housing. You might have experience with this. You might know someone. Not in your constituency so much, although there are some pretty bad houses in Roath as well. But in Cathay, especially, what can the Conservative Party provide for people in that situation? What are they saying to students who are paying these exorbitant rents and still have houses with rats and mould? 


Yeah it’s a very very real concern for many people. I live in Cathays, I can see firsthand these issues.  But I think one thing that we’re looking to do is to make sure we’re creating independent investigations of these landlords to make sure the wrong ones are being held to account.

But as it goes back to what I said earlier, these are a few rotten apples that need to be held to account. We need to make sure we’re working with landlords, who are providing that service to everyone, and not make sure we’re not blanketly blaming everyone for the faults of a few individuals. We should hold the wrong ones to account, work with the good ones where we need to, so we can all benefit. Then I think that is the way forward.

So, you wouldn’t you wouldn’t endorse some of the more radical stuff we are hearing during the election, like rent control.

I don’t think they’re beneficial to landlords. They’re not beneficial to students. I don’t think they’re only eneficial to serve a policy, an ideological agenda. I think they’re not realistic, and I think they’ve been proven to have very adverse effects on the housing market. It goes back to when you need to be working with them, not against them.

People would say, well, we’ve tried that, you know, our country does have a housing problem and people feel it, especially when they’re at university. And people may not be too enthusiastic for what you’re saying. To work with landlords, the kind of people who are seen to be at the heart of the problem.

I say, well, we haven’t tried that. As you know, we haven’t been in power here in Wales, and housing is a devolved issue. We had 27 years of labour, propped up by Plaid, and look what they’ve delivered. I think it’s important that we try and take a new approach, one that’s punishing when it needs to be, holding accountable when it needs to be, but not trying to create this blanket approach of villainy, of this blame game. 


So moving on from student issues, what are the main aims of the Conservative party going to the election? What influence do you seek to have? Because the polling suggests that you’re really going to have a  very small number of seats. What does the Conservative Party seek to achieve?

 So it’s going back to what I was saying earlier, about making sure we’re electing conservative voices to represent conservative needs. We haven’t ruled out anything.  As you saw Darren Millar [at BBC question time] we are willing to work with any party, as long as they are delivering for the people of Wales, based on the stuff we’ve outlined in our manifesto.

At day’s end, we all want to improve Wales for everyone, for the people. We need to hold people to account where needed, work with them where we must, and compromise where we have to, because change is needed. Wales has clearly been broken.We need to fix Wales and get Wales working for everyone.

People might say “You didn’t fix England, so we can’t trust you to fix Wales”.

I think that’s a very interesting thing to say. And if we look at Wales specifically, I’ve got 2 examples here of the NHS and education. In Wales, 9% more is spent per person in the NHS in Wales and 6% more per person on education in Wales. And yet, Wales consistently ranks at the bottom of the entire UK. 
I mean, a report has stated this is clearly not a monetary issue, but a management issue. That is the management of Labour and its application. That is what they have delivered for Wales, a worse NHS…

Free prescription, though.

Maybe, but if we’ve got one in 4 people in Wales on a waiting list, people dying in corridors, and yet you’ve blamed, of course, the conservatives. ike I said, I’m not saying we’ve haven’t had our faults. But when you’ve got a more efficient NHS system in England, despite lower money per person per capita, clearly we have to look at policy, and where Labour policy failed in Wales, and that’s what we need to be looking at.

We have seen an increased presence of nationalist rhetoric in this election. Your party was slightly sceptical of the renaming of the districts along Welsh language lines What’s the Conservative Party’s attitude not just to independence, but also tothe increased cultural autonomy of Wales, because independence itself is not going to happen. I don’t think people expect that to happen in the next 5 years whether it will happen in the future, I don’t know.
But what will the Conservative Party say when there is an increased presence of the Welsh language, and an increased presence of these distinct Welsh cultural markers in public life?

We completely support all of that. We are still holding ourselves to that Welsh-speaking goal and creating Welsh bursaries so we can support Welsh culture and ensure that Welsh history is enshrined and remembered. But at day’s end, we are The Conservative and Unionist party. We are a unionist party, and we believe that working together with the rest of the UK is in Wales’s benefit. I mean, as I said, it goes to what Abraham Lincoln said “a house divided against itself cannot stand”.

We are a United Kingdom. We have done great things together as a nation. We continue to do great things together, going into the future. We are stronger together, and when we work together, we can deliver better for everyone.

Do you not feel a bit behind the curb? Because I think maybe in the student community, there is an increased presence of those kinds of left-wing talking points, many people really kind of dig the Welsh independent stuff, even those who are from England, I commonly find. On a kind of personal level, what’s it like to represent those views in an election which seems to be going against a lot of what you’re saying?

I think if we look at Northern Ireland and Scotland for this, if we look at, say, Sinn Fein in Ireland and the SNP in Scotland, and also, of course, Plaid, they may be on polling 30%. So they’ll either be the first or second party.

So if we look at it like that, that is less than half of Wales voting for pro-independence parties. If we look at it the other way, that is more of a fractured unionist view about how to go about running. If we look, say, Northern Ireland, Sinn Fein, yes, of course is the biggest party in Stormont, but also then the next 3 biggest ones are all Unionist parties. It’s more that unionists are disunified.

So if we look at it like that, I think the point we need to be understanding is why are people thinking about independence? Why are people thinking this is the way forward? Because this goes back to what was said earlier. We have to understand why people are thinking the way they are, understand what the root of the cause is, and how can we, as politicians, as a conservative party, best approach that, to make people realise this is probably not the best way, and how we can best facilitate that, to help them.

Onto some kind of big topics. What role does the state have in people’s lives? Because this is becoming a more contentious issue. I think in Wales there is a very high presence of government in people’s lives. What does the Conservative Party say to people who are concerned about the way in which we are governed more generally?

I think we need to make sure we are approaching everything with an open mind. We need to look at what’s working well, what isn’t. We have clearly seen that elements of state involvement have worked. If we look at some incredible aspects of state control in the UK, like the NHS, like state education, these have worked.
We need to acknowledge what’s worked and also look what is holding people back. What red tape is stopping people from pursuing their dreams, from pursuing their success and creating growth that the UK and Wales in general desperately needs.

What does the graduate market look like in Wales where the Conservative Party has influence or power? What ways are you going to provide for those people who are suffering from job insecurity or unemployment, leaving university?

I’ll 1st go to education specifically. We’re looking at creating a lot more apprenticeships because we want to make sure there are more pathways and lots of different avenues for people.

We don’t want people to feel that they must go to university to get a job. But with universities specifically, we want to start making sure there are those pathways from education into employment, about working with employers, we want to look at creating a lot more direct inward investment within Wales, working with an international business to set up new headquarters in Cardiff.

We want to make sure that we can make sure we’re getting those grad people straight from the lecture halls into employment. We want to make sure there are designated pathways for people studying STEM degrees, medicine, nursing, direct, because we’ve had that issue of late, where there have not been enough facilities for people studying paramedics and ambulance after they graduate.

So making sure there is that watertight pathway system fro from education to employment.

What part do international students play in that growth?

International students play a very important part of growth. They have chosen to come to the UK, come to Wales, contribute, and learn in what was one of the best, what is one of the best universities in the world.  And it’s important that we make sure we have the opportunities so that anyone willing and able to succeed can, and that is the Conservative Party’s mantra.

If you are willing, if you are able, then you can succeed. It’s about creating those opportunities for people to be able to succeed. 


People will be listening and may not believe you, because it does seem to people who are maybe not so tuned into the internal workings of the Conservative Party that there’s a bit of a change on migration along those kinds of Reform talking points. How’s that going to serve people who’ve come here to study?

I wouldn’t say that at all. I think immigration has always been a big part of the Conservative Party. We understand the importance of immigration and what they contribute to the economy, and what people bring into the employment market, and also some of our vital services.

But what the Conservative Party want to do is make sure it’s done responsibly, where people who are willing and able to work have the opportunity to work. But we want to be sure we’re getting the cream of the crop, making sure any people coming over are the best people suited to work and enjoy our country, as you and I have.

Would you keep Nation of Sanctuary as a policy? 


The Conservative party we are looking at scrapping it. It has done some great work for Ukrainian refugees, especially. But as I said, it comes back to priorities. And with what the IFS said, this next Senedd budget is going to be a very tight one. It’s not one with much wiggle room. Thus, we need to be making sure we’re looking at where this money is best spent to serve the people of Wales.

When you’ve got one in four people in Wales on a waiting list, the worst education system in the entirety of the UK, which is on track to be overtaken by Romania in the coming years, according to one report I read,  it is important to make sure we’ve got these priorities, so we are serving the people of Wales and that is the Conservative’s priority. 


To finish, then, what’s your main pitch to voters? Why should a Cardiff student vote for the Conservative Party? 


Students are hard-working people, and they want to go on and succeed in life, and that is the conservative mantra. If you work hard, if you put in the graft, then you will succeed. We believe in this very important point of meritocracy, and it’s clear that this is the priority. 
Our plan is to fix Wales and get Wales working, to create growth, to cut tax, and to get Wales back to where it should be in line with the other countries in the UK.

Joe Roberts, thank you very much