THE widow of a popular Newport councillor hopes to build on his legacy after she was put forward to contest a by-election triggered by his death.

Carmel Townsend, 64, has been nominated by the Welsh Liberal Democrats to represent the party in the St Julians by-election on July 28 following the death of her husband, Ed Townsend, in May.

The mother-of-six previously represented the ward as a councillor in 2008 and also worked behind the scenes when Mr Townsend was re-elected as one of the ward’s three councillors in 2012.

Pointing to the precedent of Bettws councillor Val Delahaye, who was elected following her husband’s death in 2008, Mrs Townsend hopes to build on the work Mr Townsend did in the community.

She said: “We had decided it would be a way of carrying on his work if I got elected.

“We’re a bit of a political family and thought it would be worth a go. We’ve got quite a small, close team working together and we’ve all worked with Ed over the years and we know what he thought.

“They asked me if I felt emotionally able to stand and I thought it was the time to go for it.”

Mr Townsend, who was previously the director of communications for the Welsh Liberal Democrats, represented St Julians for 12 years before he died following a short illness on May 1.

Mrs Townsend said she was amazed by the number of residents who had been in touch about issues he had dealt with, whether it was Japanese knotweed or major planning applications.

She said: “I’ve been completely overwhelmed – you don’t often think of those things do you?

“I just knew Ed as my husband and the father of my children. It’s just a nice legacy for him so I’ll give it my best.”

Mrs Townsend will be up against five other candidates: Carol Bader of the Welsh Conservatives, Phil Hourahine of Welsh Labour, Chris Priest of Plaid Cymru, Andrew Byers of UKIP and Mirka Virtanen of the Wales Green Party.

Applications to register to vote in the by-election must reach the electoral registration officer by 12am on Tuesday, July 12.

For more information, visit http://www.newport.gov.uk/en/Council-Democracy/Elections-and-voting/St-Julians-ward-election.aspx.