THE constituency of Islwyn has traditionally been an extremely safe seat for Labour.

And it is one that the party will be confident of keeping in tomorrow's election - in contrast with the free-for-all that has emerged in neighbouring Blaenau Gwent.

The Islwyn constituency, formerly known as Bedwellty, was held for many years by the former Labour leader Lord Kinnock.

But a by-election was held in 1995 when he was appointed to the European Commission.

The seat was then taken by Don Touhig - later to become the Under Secretary of State for Wales - with a majority of just over 13,000. He improved that margin in the General Election of 1997, when he came in with a 23,000 majority.

Two years later, however, came a major upset for the Labour Party in Islwyn.

At the first Welsh Assembly elections in 1999, Plaid Cymru - which had only managed to scrape fourth place in the previous General Election - scooped the seat in a shocking result.

At the same time, many Labour councillors lost their seats in Islwyn wards in the local authority elections - enough of them to turn the traditionally Labour local authority over to the Welsh nationalists' control too.

The seat thus became one to keep a close eye on in the next General Election of 2001, with speculation that the constituency could soon have its first ever Plaid MP.

But Islwyn eventually returned safely to the Labour fold, with Mr Touhig holding firmly on to the seat - albeit with a reduced majority that time of 15,309.

And it was Liberal Democrat candidate Kevin Etheridge, not Plaid Cymru, who polled in second place on that occasion.

The Assembly seat returned decisively to Labour in 2003 - while Labour regained control of Caerphilly county borough council in 2004.

This year Mr Touhig will be contesting the seat against just three other candidates - the Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru and Conservative candidates. Last time, six candidates stood.

Regenerating this former mining community after the devastating loss of its main source of employment - the pits - is one of the major issues for Islwyn.

Projects currently under way include the Ebbw Vale railway that will pass through Islwyn on its route from Ebbw Vale to Newport and Cardiff - and the controversial Sirhowy Enterprise Way road in Blackwood, which it is claimed will bring more jobs to Oakdale.