Eight politicians are competing in, arguably, the most interesting by-election in the 26-years of Welsh devolution.

They are seeking to represent the constituency of Caerphilly in the Welsh Parliament.

Prompted by the sudden death of Labour Senedd member Hefin David in August, the poll takes place on 23 October.

Here you can read about all of the candidates, in alphabetical order, and their messages to voters.

The details were provided by the political parties and candidates, and reflect their views.

Steve Aicheler lives in Machen with his family and is a community councillor and school governor.

He works for a national non-profit organisation promoting entrepreneurship in education and has founded several local businesses.

Steve says he is standing to give Caerphilly a strong, independent voice in the Senedd who puts people first.

• Fix the social care crisis to free up the Welsh NHS and reduce waiting times.
• Provide 30 hours of free childcare a week for every child aged nine months to four years, so that every parent in Caerphilly has access to affordable and flexible childcare.
• Prioritise education, ensuring young people in Wales have equal access to opportunity as young people in England.
• Bring jobs back to Caerphilly, challenging a Cardiff-centric City Deal that has failed to deliver for local people.
• Protect local services that are under threat from Labour locally and in the Senedd.

Anthony Cook grew up in Cefn Hengoed, lives in Ystrad Mynach and says his family has been “part of the Rhymney Valley mining history for generations”.

He is a father of three children that he takes on “adventures over Parc Penallta and Gelligaer Common” and says that, as a boy, he “played in the shadow of Penallta colliery and caught the C9 bus to Bargoed to go shopping with my nan in a once thriving high street”.

He says he understands the “struggles that have followed the decline of our traditional industries”. The name of his party, Gwlad, means country in Welsh.

• Help town centres by building homes, siting public services such as polyclinics (centres for GP surgeries, outpatients and minor injuries) there and encouraging evening shop opening, at least from April to October.
• Reform VAT; as new build is free of the tax but repair is not, making it cheaper to build new on the outskirts of town rather than restore the old centre.
• The elected Welsh government should run Wales, not boards and panels of the “great and the good” which require additional funding to administer and give ministers a way to evade responsibility.
• End subsidies for renewable energy schemes such as solar farms that are destroying good agricultural land.
• Oppose Welsh government funding of politically partisan NGOs (non-governmental organisations), eg those that campaign for men to access women’s spaces.

Gareth Hughes, who lives in Caerphilly, was born in Bangor and educated at Friars Grammar School, Coleg Harlech and the London School of Economics.

He has been an apprentice printer, print journalist, university lecturer, researcher and played a prominent role in the early days of housing associations in Wales.

He returned to journalism, with the creation of the National Assembly for Wales in the late 1990s, as an ITV Wales political reporter and commentator, later analysing public life for BBC Radio Wales, Radio Cymru and others.

• Create green jobs for people where they live.
• Provide better public services – including more evening bus services and warm, safe housing.
• Build stronger communities with empowered local voices.
• Promote a fairer, greener future tackling the climate emergency.

Gareth Potter is married with two children and has lived in Ebbw Vale since last year. Born in Pontypool, he grew up on a Trevethin council estate and attended West Monmouth Comprehensive School.

He worked for retailers, including Matalan, then in charity retail with the British Heart Foundation before focusing on politics full-time.

He was previously a staff member for Conservative South Wales East Senedd member Natasha Asghar and worked, for the last four years, as a campaign manager for Bristol and South Gloucestershire Conservatives.

• Scrap business rates for small businesses to allow our forgotten high streets to grow, creating more local jobs and reducing unemployment across Caerphilly and growing tourism.
• Ban mobile phones in schools by rolling out lockable phone pouches across all schools in Caerphilly and ensure children are automatically excluded for carrying knives into school.
• Push to extend GP services beyond 09:00 BST to 19:00 and review NHS hospital planning which has seen hospitals like Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr designed for A&E services but instead all A&E going to the Grange in Torfaen 30mins away for residents living just yards from Ystrad Fawr.
• Scrap Wales’ 20mph default speed limit and build an M4 relief road south of Newport to support growth in our town and villages across Caerphilly.
• Keep local services open while cutting council waste, scrapping the Senedd expansion while initiating an Anti-Waste Action Plan.

Llŷr Powell has lived and worked in Caerphilly for the last five years and has called the area home for much of his professional life, aside from a brief hiatus to work in the House of Commons in 2024.

He has worked in communications in public, political and charitable organisations, including roles in political communications and public affairs, where he has used his platform to highlight issues facing the left-behind communities of south Wales.

He is a fluent Welsh speaker, and describes himself as an enthusiastic supporter of grassroots Welsh rugby and a keen follower of the national side.

• Protect the NHS, free at the point of delivery, with free prescriptions. Champion shorter waiting lists, more frontline staff, proper funding and an upgrade for Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr.
• Support local high streets, be a strong voice for Caerphilly’s local economy and prioritise attracting much-needed investment to create more opportunities and jobs in this area.
• End the Nation of Sanctuary policy, which has wasted £55m of taxpayers’ money.
• Fight to keep libraries open as the Labour council wants to close 10 of them while sitting on almost £190m in reserves as council tax keeps rising. Ensure reserves are spent on local communities not wasteful projects.
• Get Wales moving again by pushing to reverse Labour’s 20mph speed limits, which are negatively impacting Caerphilly’s economy and putting businesses off investing in the region. Back better and safer transport links.

Roger Quilliam has been a member of UKIP’s National Executive Committee since 2024.

The party says he has worked for over two years closely with party leader Nick Tenconi in activism and citizen journalism for UKIP, Turning Point UK, and Disciples of Christ.

UKIP says he campaigns against mass immigration, communism, liberalism, and in favour of patriotism, nationalism, and traditionalism and that his core values are rooted in family, community, national identity, justice, and law and order.

• Abolish the Senedd.
• Freeze immigration for a minimum of five years.
• Mass deportations and remigration.
• Reinstate Christianity back into the heart of government and put Britons first.

Richard Tunnicliffe has lived in Caerphilly with his Troedyrhiw-born wife Lynda for 26 years and they raised their three sons in the town.

He has worked as an accountant and financial analyst and runs a publishing company with his wife, specialising in Welsh translations of popular children’s books.

He was encouraged to become more active in the local party by Hefin David, who was mentoring him to be a candidate in next year’s Senedd election at the time of his death.

• Honour Hefin David’s legacy by listening to constituents and solving community problems together.
• Champion Bevan’s NHS by working proactively with local health service leaders.
• Earn trust by doing what I say I will do and never over-promising.
• Calling for the council to prioritise protecting libraries across the borough and use any future funding to do so.

Lindsay Whittle was born in Caerphilly town, he lives in Abertridwr, was raised on the Penyrheol council estate and attended Cwm Ifor Primary School.

A councillor for Penyrheol since 1976, he was Caerphilly council leader from 1999 to 2004 and 2008 to 2011, and has been Plaid Cymru group leader on the council since 2022.

From 2011 to 2016 he was a South Wales East assembly member (as Senedd members were previously known).

• Campaign for a fair funding settlement for Wales to help protect local services and oppose cuts, recently opposing plans to close public libraries and a leisure centre across the Caerphilly constituency.
• Attract quality jobs through Plaid Cymru’s Making Wales Work plan, giving locally-owned small and medium-sized businesses and co-operatives in Caerphilly more help and adjusting business rates to boost town centres.
• Billions spent on rail projects in England, such as HS2 and the Oxford-Cambridge line, bring extra money to Scotland and Northern Ireland but not Wales. Releasing cash for Wales would help pay for local improvements.
• Invest in primary healthcare: Lindsay Whittle supports Plaid Cymru’s plan to set up elective care hubs to get people seen faster, with a triage system to speed up referrals between GPs and hospitals.

BBC Wales is holding a live debate for the candidates of the Caerphilly by-election on 15 October. Click below to apply to be in the audience.