It is a huge privilege to have been re-elected for a third term as the Member of the Welsh Parliament for our area.

I would like to thank the people of Montgomeryshire for returning me with a much increased majority.

It was a positive and fair campaign from all sides and I have huge respect for the other candidates who stood in this election.

I was delighted my own party returned 16 members, which is the highest ever level of Welsh Conservatives to the Senedd.

I was particularly pleased to see James Evans elected as the Member of the Senedd for Brecon and Radnorshire and I look forward to working closely with James for the residents of Powys.

I very much welcome that Wales has moved to Alert Level 2 this week, thanks to the successful UK vaccine programme.

However, As we move out of the pandemic, Wales faces huge challenges. We have the weakest economy of all four UK nations and we need to protect jobs, tackle the NHS waiting list backlogs, and ensure our children catch-up on all that they have missed over the last year.

The Welsh public firmly rejected independence, overwhelmingly backing parties who support the Union. I have spoken to so many people over the last few months including families, workers, and businesses who want to see both the UK Government and the Welsh Government working together to end the confusion over different restrictions.

I remain concerned that the funding announced by the Welsh Government to support businesses has not been backdated and that many smaller companies will struggle to kickstart back from the pandemic.

During my campaign, I highlighted our local health facilities as something I would continue to prioritise. Our local health board has submitted plans for a new health facility and community hospital for mid Wales. I will be taking this is up with the new Health Minister. I had pursued this with previous first ministers and I will now be looking to meet with the new Health Minister to lobby for approval of these plans and for the new facility to be delivered.