A POLITICAL party calling for a referendum on whether the old county of Monmouthshire should remain in Wales is fielding 13 candidates in Gwent in the Assembly election next month.

They are targeting three Gwent constituencies - Newport East, Newport West and Monmouthshire - and have put forward 10 candidates in the South Wales East regional list.

In all, one in seven of the 90 candidates standing in Gwent constituencies on May 3 is an English Democrat.

Robin Tilbrook, chairman of the English Democrats, formed in 2002, said the party was standing on a ticket calling for a referendum on whether the "old county" of Monmouthshire, including Newport and Torfaen, should remain in Wales.

He said the number of candidates put forward by the party was "to show we are serious".

Mr Tilbrook added: "The voting system in the regional list encourages us and if we got eight per cent a candidate would have a realistic chance of being elected. If an English Democrat is elected it would really shake people up.

"Like Plaid Cymru we want people to recognise their national identity. It's not our aim to cause trouble between the English and the Welsh."

The full list of candidates was released yesterday - with 59 candidiates on the South Wales East regional list alone from 11 parties including commmunist, Socialist Labour and British National Party candidates.