Ex-Olympian among first-time general election candidates

She believed Labour was a natural fit for her, praising its record on gender representation, and said she was passionate about “justice, fairness and equality of opportunity”.

She also said she was focused on increasing representation on Welsh issues, including the Welsh language, which she described as an “afterthought” in UK-wide politics.

“I’m focused on opportunities in general – especially the way society treats marginalised people,” she said.

Also standing in Dwyfor Meirionnydd is Tomos Day for the Conservatives, Phoebe Jenkins for the Liberal Democrats, Lucy Murphy for Reform and Liz Saville-Roberts for Plaid Cymru.

Kiera Marshall, 25, who is standing for Plaid Cymru in Cardiff West, got into politics to fight for areas like those in which she grew up – Townhill, Swansea, which she described as “one of Wales’ poorest council estates”.

“The area struggled and it was very stigmatised, and that just motivates me to fight for areas like mine,” she said.

At university, she said she was “very aware of the stark difference between me and other students”.