Cllr Rhys Thomas is a Vale of Glamorgan County Councillor, representing Plymouth ward in Penarth. He also serves as Chairman of the Learning and Culture Scrutiny Committee.

This year’s General Election was a chastening experience. Our vote collapsed and we lost many excellent Members of Parliament.

In parts of the country, we were totally wiped out. In 2019 the Conservatives won 14 seats in Wales, taking seats like Wrexham and Bridgend. Now, we have none.

You all know this story. Looking to the future, we have a new leader and a refreshed sense of direction. Renewal is our purpose, for party and country.

For members and local councillors, the connection between what we do on the ground and the direction of the party can seem distant.

I am a councillor in the Westminster seat of Cardiff South and Penarth. It has been Labour since its formation when former Prime Minister James Callaghan was the MP. There is no doubt that it is a solid red seat these days.

However, that is no reason for us to down tools. The next Welsh local elections are in 2027, but we work hard to put up candidates at Council by-elections. We go door-to-door championing our cause and our candidates who can make a positive difference in their communities.

It doesn’t matter if a ward has never elected a Conservative, we will find a candidate, sort out the nomination forms and get on the ballot paper.

We are currently in the midst of campaigning for the Splott by-election in Cardiff with our excellent candidate Tomos Llewelyn. He is fighting against the Labour-run Council’s incessant tax hikes and gutting of services, in addition to combating their anti-motorist agenda.

Earlier this year, we fought a by-election in Grangetown where our candidate Zak Weaver did very well to increase our share of the vote by 40 per cent.

It goes without saying that it is highly unlikely seats like these will have Conservative Councillors any time soon – but that’s not the point.

We exist to take our message to all parts of the country. We are the Conservative and Unionist Party. Not only are there Conservative supporters in these places, there are people waiting to be won over. People who have never had their door knocked, or a leaflet through the letterbox. A chat with someone on the doorstep can really make a difference.

Across Conservative Home and social media, I see Associations putting up candidates and fighting campaigns up and down the country in areas that, to put it mildly, aren’t traditionally great for us.

That is something to be celebrated. It is immensely frustrating when we don’t put up candidates in some places, particularly when there is a level of party infrastructure in place. That is a missed opportunity to remind people that we are fighting for them, and that we offer the only alternative to this lacklustre and discredited Labour Government. It’s also a missed opportunity to get those all-important Voter Intentions!

In places like Wales, these local campaigns keeps the Conservative flag flying when we don’t have any Members of Parliament to fly it. It’s also important because of Senedd elections, where proportionality means votes from all corners of constituencies will matter.

It’s a similar story in other parts of Great Britain too – even though your local Council ward may seem unwinnable, knocking doors and spreading our message has a positive impact and may win people over for future Mayoral and Police & Crime Commissioner contests, not to mention the next General Election.

Benjamin Disraeli is quoted as saying “the Tory party, unless it is a national party, is nothing”. That is a maxim for us to live by, and by living those words we can pave the way back to a national victory and the national renewal our country desperately needs.

The post Rhys Thomas: There must be no no-go areas for Welsh Conservatives appeared first on Conservative Home.