"I was once lambasted for knitting during a council meeting"

What Steven asked Rachel Garrick, Labour councillor for... checks notes... Caldicot Castle in Wales

Rachel Garrick was once a Medway Labour activist who stood in Rochester West against Kelly Tolhurst. She now lives back in her homeland of Wales. Steven caught up with her via Zoom to discuss what brought her to Medway and what took her back to Wales, why she stopped supporting Jeremy Corbyn, finding Mark Reckless as her representative when she moved back across the border, and the fight for Welsh independence.

Rachel Garrick

Where are you an elected representative?
I am an elected representative for Monmouthshire County Council. My ward is Caldicot Castle Ward. It has a view of the Severn Bridge, well actually the second Severn crossing. I'm elected for Welsh Labour and Co-operative parties.

Are there any comparisons between Monmouthshire and Medway?
Absolutely. We just ousted the Tories from the council as well (laughs). We did turn the council from a Conservative council to a Labour-led council at the last election, which was a year earlier than Medway, but we have similar demographics. We're a more rural county. However, it's got a southern area which is much more working class. Caldicot, where I live, is very much an ex-steel workers community, and then you have much more rural areas up towards, well, most of the country. But up towards the north, you have Monmouth, which is a little bit more well to do, shall we say.

How does Caldicot Castle compare to Rochester Castle?
Of course it's better because it's Welsh (laughs). It's an absolute lie. It's a Norman castle. Many castles were in Wales. When you look at the amount of castles that were built in Wales, it's really interesting. A lot of them were Norman and built to suppress the local population. It's not as tall as Rochester Castle. It definitely doesn't have a gorgeous view of a cathedral or a river. You can see the Severn estuary. It's got four towers, but they are about two to three stories and some lovely grounds. It's set in a country park, all of which is free to access, including the castle, because the council owns it as well. It runs events, very similar to Rochester in that way. It was used as housing and converted into flats in the post-war era. In the 50s and 60s, people actually lived there.