My name is Samuel Williams and I am your Conservative candidate for the West of England Mayoral Election. My story is a complex one. I grew up locally, in a single parent home, with an English mother and Jamaican father. As a young man I trained to be a priest, before setting up my own business. I am a product of the community that helped raised me and I owe it a great debt.
It is now my desire to pay this back. To give back to the region that has given so much for me. On Thursday the 6th of May you have a clear choice: A choice between a business minded, forward thinking, opportunity driven Conservative candidate, or yet another lacking leader or careerist party politician.
The Mayor of the West of England co-ordinates investment across the region and is responsible for allocating hundreds of millions of pounds of central Government money to deliver better transport, training, housing, and investment in jobs and the economy. As your Mayor I want to give the West of England the strong Conservative leadership it desperately deserves, to unlock Government funding and drive us forward in our recovery away from Covid, towards strong and meaningful commerce, communities, and collaboration.
As a local businessman and charity leader, I’m passionate about energising our region to increase opportunities and quality of life for all: I will invest over £100 million over the next 4 years to secure the recovery of our skills and business. Furthermore, I will also safeguard our economy, facilitate growth, and deliver improved skills training for high value jobs by launching new a ‘Collaborative Future Work and Skills Programme’.
On top of this, I will deliver at least 6 new train stations and crucial rail improvements; alongside launching a pioneering new hi-tech ‘on-demand’ urban and rural transport services, as part of an overhauled regional mass transit system, designed to set the wheels in motion and get the West of England moving again.
I will also meet our region’s development needs by building 140,000 affordable homes and constructing communities for the future, focusing on the significant brown-field re-development opportunities in our towns and cities, whilst protecting our beautiful rural areas and precious greenbelt.
The message is clear. Now is not the time to risk our recovery. Now is the time to secure our future.