Havard Hughes previously contested the seat at the 2019 General Election, gaining 14,130 votes and taking the Conservatives to a close second place behind disgraced, now suspended, Plaid MP Jonathan Edwards.  Hughes’ strong showing leaves the Conservatives just 297 votes behind the incumbent Plaid leader’s 2016 result.

Hughes is a Carmarthen-based entrepreneur who runs the trade policy consultancy he founded from West Wales.  In a City of London career spanning nearly 20 years, he advised chief executives and boards on legislation, tax and public policy.  A Welsh speaker, he attended local schools Ysgol y Dderwen, Abergwili and QE Maridunum Comprehensive – before going on to graduate with a degree in Law from Cambridge University.  He lives with his fiancée Genevieve on their smallholding in just north of Carmarthen.