BBC NEWS | VOTE 2003

DESCRIPTION: Wrexham

A seat which should have been all but guaranteed for Labour has been thrown into turmoil with the deselection by local party members of the sitting AM, John Marek. Dr Marek, who has been either MP or AM for Wrexham for 20 years, was replaced as the candidate by his former secretary after a series of disputes with Labour colleagues in Cardiff Bay and in his constituency. He upset some within the Labour group by standing against another of his party's AMs for the post of assembly deputy presiding officer, and winning. He was also accused of undermining his party in a private letter to an official of the Communication Workers Union, recommending that the union stopped donating to Labour until the government improved its attitude towards public services.

Although Labour has done well in a town often regarded as the capital of north Wales, its majorities have been smaller than those typical of its industrial seats in the south. Recent years have brought change to the area�s traditional industry, with the decline of coal and brick-making. It has been quite successful in diversifying, attracting well-known names such as Kelloggs and Sharp, and new industrial estates have sprung up. The constituency also has a Labour MP. Like every other part of Wales close to the English border, it voted against setting up the assembly in the 1997 devolution referendum.

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