Islwyn has traditionally been an extremely safe seat for Labour, with the last two incumbents being Don Touhig and Neil Kinnock.

Former Labour leader Lord Kinnock, held the Islwyn seat - formerly known as Bedwellty - for many years, before being appointed to the European commission in 1995.

The seat was then taken by Mr Touhig - later to become the under secretary of state for Wales- with a majority of just over 12,000.

Mr Touhig improved the margin in the General Election of 1997, when he won with a 22,000 majority.

However, a major shock to Labour came in 1999 at the first Assembly election. Plaid Cymru scooped the seat, with many Labour councillors losing the Islwyn wards at the local authority elections.

But, Mr Touhig kept hold of the parliamentary seat at both the 2001 and 2005 elections, which made it a huge shock when he announced his decision not to stand at the upcoming elections.

One of the major challenges in the former mining area is regeneration after the loss of its main source of employment- the pits.

The main towns in Islwyn are Blackwood, Newbridge, Cross Keys and Risca, with the numbers of voters rising from 50,113 at the last election to 55,311 with Maesycwmmer and Aberbargoed transferred from the Caerphilly constituency.