IT is Labour's safest seat in Wales - a Labour heartland represented by political giants.

Now Blaenau Gwent is in political chaos over proposals for an all-women short list for the Labour Party parliamentary candidacy, and the messy situation could mean the unthinkable - Labour could lose its stranglehold on the Valleys constituency.

Grassroots Labour supporters are strongly opposed to an all-women short list for Blaenau Gwent.

The constituency Labour Party is refusing to run the selection procedure for a parliamentary candidate, so the Welsh executive must organise that procedure itself.

The party has also requested that its members do not campaign in the election if it is carried out on a single gender short list.

And Peter Law - the Labour AM for the constituency who would naturally be excluded from standing for MP by the short lists - has declared he will "seriously consider" standing as an independent in the next general election.

Many people believe it could even lead to Labour losing one of its most traditional strongholds - where NHS founder Aneurin Bevan and former party leader Michael Foot were once proud to represent voters.

The Argus carried out a poll in Blaenau Gwent last month, when around 50 per cent of people asked said they would vote for Peter Law rather than Labour if he stood as an independent at the next election.

Mr Law said this week he believed Labour was in real danger of losing the Blaenau Gwent seat at the next election.

"That is not just because of what I have said - it could also go Liberal Democrat or Plaid Cymru. There are lot of people who will not vote, because they are disgusted," he said.

"The Welsh Executive are ignoring the people - but they ignore them at their peril."

Current Blaenau Gwent MP Llew Smith said there could be "massive problems" at the next election.

"The message I am getting is that people are not going to vote for a candidate who is imposed on them," he said.

"There is almost 100 per cent opposition to this in Blaenau Gwent. People who had the good sense to vote for Nye Bevan and Michael Foot are insulted by this."

He added that in his 40 years in politics, he had never known a resolution such as the one by the Blaenau Gwent Constituency Labour Party last week.

David Davies, secretary of constituency party, is also concerned about the future.

He told the Argus he could foresee many difficulties ahead - especially if a woman candidate is brought in from outside the constituency and then wins the seat.

"Because of the furore that has been caused, it would be difficult for someone from inside, and even harder for someone from outside," he said.

"Blaenau Gwent is a very difficult area to represent because it has a lot of problems and there is a lot of work to be done.

"There are people here who are capable of doing that work, but an MP is a critical part of that.

"We wanted to pick the person who could best represent this area. Blaenau Gwent has never been affluent, it may never be, but we can move forward."

Mr Davies says the selection procedure could be started by the executive as early as this week.

"In theory there could be a general election as early as next year, although in practice it will probably be later, so they will want to have a candidate waiting in the wings," he added.

Mr Davies says he believes the future of the constituency party itself is not under threat - but is uncertain of his own future.

He said: "I believe the Party will continue, in what structure or form and who will be running it I don't know, but it will continue.

"I joined the Labour Party because I believed in socialist values and principles and I still do. But I have a lot of heart-searching to do now."