BBC NEWS | VOTE 2003


CANDIDATE	PARTY	VOTES	%	+/-%
Jeffrey Cuthbert	LAB	11893	46.8	2.6
Lindsay Whittle	PC	6919	27.3	-6.9
Laura Jones	CON	2570	10.1	2.4
Rob Roffe	LD	1281	5.0	-7.4
Ann Blackman	IND	1204	4.7	4.7
Avril Dafydd-Lewis	CCI	930	3.7	3.7
Brenda Vipass	UKIP	590	2.3	2.3

	MAJORITY	4974	19.6
	TURNOUT	25400	37.3	-6.2

DESCRIPTION: Caerphilly

Mention Caerphilly, and people think of its cheese, its castle - and lately, Ron Davies. His dramatic resignation as Labour's assembly candidate just seven weeks before this election makes an intriguing political contest much more fascinating. Mr Davies was the MP from 1983 - 2001 and its first AM. He was virtually guaranteed to become the first leader of the assembly - then came his 1998 moment of madness on Clapham Common. He was forced to resign both as Welsh secretary in Tony Blair's cabinet, and as the leader of the Welsh Labour Party. Then, only weeks before this assembly election, he had to stand down again - this time as an assembly candidate - after more tabloid allegations about his private life. The latest episode has effectively ended his political career and he has been replaced as Labour candidate by the local party chairman Jeff Cuthbert.

Plaid Cymru hopes it can build further on the second place it achieved in the 1999 election. Although Labour's Wayne David comfortably replaced Ron Davies as the MP in 2001, Plaid has controlled the local authority since 1999. Caerphilly extends from the outskirts of Cardiff in the south to the border of the Brecon Beacons in the north. While large parts remain a traditional Valleys seat, the southern part in particular has seen a growth in new housing, with many residents commuting to Cardiff and Newport. Manufacturing has largely replaced heavy industry and much of the constituency is rural.

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