By Jonathan Isaby
Conservatives in Cardiff Central have selected Matt Smith to contest the seat at the Assembly election taking place in May. He was educated locally and has been been appointed a Special Advisor on Education Policy by Welsh Conservative Party leader Nick Bourne.
He said on his selection:
"There is nothing more important to me than the success of Cardiff Central, the powerhouse of our city and the Welsh economy, whose service industries are the best possible vindication of service-sector revolutions brought in by Conservative governments.
"What draws me to the Conservative party is aspiration. I know how important education is social mobility and progress. It is hard to overestimate how vital it is that the people of Cardiff Central seize the opportunity to vote Conservative so that we can drive forwards reform of education, giving power to teachers, parents and school governors across Wales."
"In education, Wales has cause for recrimination against Labour. In 2001 Labour ditched school league tables and replaced standardised tests with teaching assessments, making comparisons between schools’ performance impossible. Such policies and the lapsed standards that accompany them took almost 2 points a year off GCSE grades per student and poorer students suffered most."
"I’m a Conservative because I believe in people more than I believe in the dead hand of government. In Cardiff Central and across Wales, electors face a choice between another term dominated by Labour-Plaid national decline management, or a fresh approach based on Conservative reform. Let’s not let Labour-Plaid push us over the tipping point, vote for change in Wales".
He is not to be confused with Matt Smith, the Liberal Democrat candidate for the neighbouring Cardiff North constituency...
