THE Brexit Party parliamentary candidate for Montgomeryshire says the party is here to stay.

Speaking to the County Times, Oliver Lewis said voters in the constituency will be given a real alternative to the traditional major parties, the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Labour.

He said: “It is about what sort of country we want after Brexit, there are ideas on the left and the right, and the party is shaking up the system.

“It’s an interesting seat. In the EU election (in May) most of the vote here was for the Brexit Party. It will be a four-way race and I feel we have got a real chance. The first past the post system can work in strange ways.”

Mr Lewis said the party, formed only two months before dominating the EU election, is more than about fighting on a single issue and that it has a long-term future with big policy plans, to the left and right politically, making it a centrist option.

Already Mr Lewis has called for the creation of a national park in the Welsh Marches with a HQ in Welshpool, with another in the Cambrian Mountains, and he says nationally, the party is also looking at a re-nationalisation of the railways.

He said: “The Conservatives, Labour and the Lib Dems have a lot of historical baggage and are very tribal. We are not tribal. We’re at the radical centre.

“Our chairman Richard Tice is one of the smartest people I’ve ever met. Politics needs to look at the best people at the right time.”

Mr Lewis added: “I don’t think Brexit necessary had to happen but the UK Government needed a wake-up call and Brexit has done that.

“It was caused by the failures of the Government in the last 25 years, both Conservative and Labour. And the way the major parties nationally have dealt with Brexit is unforgivable.

“The Commons has 650 MPs and really I’d like to see a complete change, with a new representative in each constituency. The Brexit Party brings new ideas and a new energy.”

With a general election anticipated other parliamentary candidates announced as standing in Montgomeryshire are Craig Williams, for the Conservatives, hoping to succeed Glyn Davies who is standing down, Kishan Devani for the Liberal Democrats, and Elwyn Vaughan for Plaid Cymru.