A Powys-based candidate for the Senedd elections has called for the reintroduction of a standalone council for Montgomeryshire.

Oliver Lewis, from Montgomery, will be standing for the Reform Party in the forthcoming elections, and has now published his ambitions should he be elected.

In Montgomeryshire, Oliver has three priorities. He says he will campaign for the abolition of Powys County Council and the restoration of a Council for Montgomeryshire, abolished by the Conservatives in 1996.

He will also campaign for a brand-new General Hospital for the county at Newtown, to include both an AandE Unit and Maternity facilities.

And he has pledged to campaign for two new railway stations at Carno and Abermule, as well as improvements to the A458 to make it safer for motorists and residents.

Mr Lewis said: "There are so many issues and challenges for our County I do not know where to begin. Powys is far too big, and being based at Llandrindod Wells, distant and unaccountable to rate payers.

"I will campaign to restore a County Council for Montgomeryshire, based at Neuadd Maldwyn in Welshpool which the present Conservative/Independent Coalition in Powys want to sell for housing.

"Power needs to be close to the people it serves – a new County Council for Monty will also bring much-needed regeneration for Newtown and Welshpool, as well as an influx of secure and well-paid jobs currently all centred at Llandrindod Wells. Montgomeryshire has a had a rough deal from the Conservatives’ creation of Powys – the abolition of Montgomeryshire Council needs reversing’’.

"Electors now have a genuine choice of parties and ideas in these parliamentary elections. The Reform Party’s message to all voters is to not just hope for change, but to vote for it."

Neuadd Maldwyn is currently going through the process of being transformed into an "extra care" facility for older people.

Across Wales, the party has three priorities - lower tax rates for a "stronger and fairer economy", investment in "better and reformed" public services, and institutional reforms, including a referendum to replace the House of Lords with an elected Senate; the abolition of the BBC’s Licence Fee and reforms to local government.

Mr Lewis said: “Now that result of the Brexit referendum has been implemented, the Reform Party will continue to campaign for the next stage of modernising British institutions. All public bodies must be reminded of their obligation to taxpayers and the electorate – a notion that often seems to be lost in the spats that take place between the old political parties and their established ways of doing things.

"Wales has the worst educational outcomes in the UK, and possibly in the whole of Western Europe. I have to wait a month or more for a non-urgent GP appointment. These are not acceptable standards for a developed country. The electorate of Mid-Wales deserve better’’