With the local government elections in Wales just around the corner, we spoke to Llynfi Independents group leader Ross Thomas before the 2022 election period to get his thoughts on some of the county borough's biggest issues. Here's what he had to say.
At the age of 34, Ross Thomas is part of a minority of younger councillors at Bridgend County Borough Council (BCBC). However, with 14 years of experience as a councillor - 10 of them at county borough level - he concedes that he could still be considered "old hat" in some respects.
Indeed, the Maesteg councillor certainly experienced political turbulence earlier on in his career when he, along with Keith Edwards, Edith Hughes, Gareth Phillips, Cleone Westwood and Martyn Jones were deselected from the Labour party in 2016. All of the then councillors, except for Mr Westwood, were told it was due to defying the party whip in refusing to back BCBC's failed merger bid with the Vale of Glamorgan in 2014.
