If one county councillor in mid Wales has his way, people who don’t speak Welsh won’t be able to run for office in the future.

Cllr Gareth Lloyd, the representative on Ceredigion for Llandysilio and Llangrannog and the leader of the opposition Independents Group, has questioned the council on whether it was possible to “put a condition of speaking Welsh” as a requirement for holding elected office.

Let’s cut to the chase, Cllr Lloyd.

No.

And not only is it a “No”, it’s followed very quickly by: “Just what the heck are you thinking?” And very probably too with: “Are you for real?”

If Cllr Lloyd believes that elected representatives being unilingual would make for a better and more active council, he’s living on a different planet than the rest of us.

It’s worth pointing out that in the most recent local election, Cllr Lloyd was one of four members returned to Ceredigion unopposed, and perhaps he believes that not having to face the electorate places him in a somewhat smug position where he can express his narrow-minded opinions without consequence.

It’s bad enough trying to convince people to run in local elections without having to place linguistic constraints on them too. Across Wales, some 70 local election seats were filled unopposed in May.

Perhaps Cllr Lloyd’s time would be put to better use working for the people of Ceredigion who are struggling to make ends meet, trying to pay high fuel bills and deal with inflation and the rising numbers of Universal Credit claimants — all of whom live in the real world. Yes, that 17 per cent pay rise he and other councillors have pocketed likely buffets him from worldly pressures for now.

How about dealing with the home care crisis in mid Wales? Or growing our local businesses? Working to improve our roads?

As it is, the previous council of which Cllr Lloyd was a member, did not prevent a caravan company from trampling over Welsh Heritage by changing the name of Glan y Môr to Aber Bay when it had an opportunity to do so.

You are disingenuous, Cllr Lloyd.

Or if you prefer it in Welsh: Rydych yn annidwyll.