PRIME minister Tony Blair was due to make his second election campaign visit to South Wales today.

High security surrounds all the party leaders, so details of Mr Blair's itinery won't be known until later today.

However, education is the theme of the visit and it is thought a school in South Wales will be the setting.

Mr Blair, who visited Cardiff briefly last Saturday to emphasise his party's appeal to pensioners, is not the only senior politician in the area today.

Conservative Party chairman Michael Ancram was due to join Monmouth candidate Roger Evans on the streets of Usk this morning before heading on to Car-diff then Pembrokeshire.

Monmouth is fast becoming the place to see the top politicians, as both Labour and the Conservatives send their top names to boost the campaigns of Huw Ed-wards and Roger Evans.

Energy minister Peter Hain, the man in charge of miners' compensation payments, will be in the Rhondda and Caerphilly , while Lib Dem home affairs spokesman Simon Hughes will be visiting Brecon and Radnor.

Plaid Cymru, meanwhile, was due to focus attention on Mike German, under fire over an auditors' report into a committee he formerly headed.

First minister Rhodri Morgan's attempt to settle the issue with a statement to the Assembly on Tuesday afternoon appears to have had limited success.

Meanwhile, the Wales Green party was due to launch its Welsh manifesto. The Greens launched their UK manifesto last week, and are fielding six candidates in Wales, predominantly in the Swansea area. They are not contesting any Gwent seats. The party wants to scrap road-building and replace it with better public transport, including metro-style light rail systems.

It also wants the railways back in public ownership.