Alyn and Deeside
2005 Results:
Labour: 17331 (48.8%)
Conservative: 8953 (25.2%)
Liberal Democrat: 6174 (17.4%)
Plaid Cymru: 1320 (3.7%)
Other: 1718 (4.8%)
Majority: 8378 (23.6%)
2001 Result
Conservative: 9303 (26.3%)
Labour: 18525 (52.3%)
Liberal Democrat: 4585 (12.9%)
Plaid Cymru: 1182 (3.3%)
UKIP: 481 (1.4%)
Green: 881 (2.5%)
Other: 464 (1.3%)
Majority: 9222 (26%)
1997 Result
Conservative: 9552 (22.8%)
Labour: 25955 (61.9%)
Liberal Democrat: 4076 (9.7%)
Plaid Cymru: 738 (1.8%)
Referendum: 1627 (3.9%)
Majority: 16403 (39.1%)
No Boundary Changes:
Profile: On the English border Alyn and Deeside is geographically one of the smallest Welsh constituencies. The main town in the constituency is Connah`s Quay, along with Buckley to the South and the village of Caergwrle. Deeside is a traditional industrial area – the constituency contains Connah`s Quay power station, the Corus steel plant, the Toyota Engine factory and BAE Systems in Broughton where the wings for the new Airbus A380 are manufactured.
Outgoing MP: Mark Tami(Labour) born 1962. Educated at Enfield Grammar and Swansea University. Married with 2 sons. Worked as head of policy at AEEU prior to being first elected in 2001. Parliamentary interests include manufacturing, industry and aerospace. Tami is a party loyalist – he publicly opposed university top-up fees, but in the end did not rebel against the government (his only rebellion against the government was over the religious hatred offence in November 2001, when a whip accidentally told him to vote in the wrong lobby!) In 2000 Tami co-authored a Fabian Society pamphlet with Tom Watson MP calling for compulsory voting to arrest the decline in turnout. Tami was appointed as PPS to Dawn Primarolo in 2005. (more information at They work for you)
Candidates: Will Gallagher (Conservative) Educated at Cambridge University. Runs a fmaily business in Sandycroft. Contested Alyn and Deeside in 2007 Welsh Assembly elections.Mark Tami(Labour) born 1962. Educated at Enfield Grammar and Swansea University. Married with 2 sons. Worked as head of policy at AEEU prior to being first elected in 2001. Parliamentary interests include manufacturing, industry and aerospace. Tami is a party loyalist – he publicly opposed university top-up fees, but in the end did not rebel against the government (his only rebellion against the government was over the religious hatred offence in November 2001, when a whip accidentally told him to vote in the wrong lobby!) In 2000 Tami co-authored a Fabian Society pamphlet with Tom Watson MP calling for compulsory voting to arrest the decline in turnout. Tami was appointed as PPS to Dawn Primarolo in 2005. (more information at They work for you)Paul Brighton (Liberal Democrat)
Maurice Jones (Plaid Cymru) Born Wrexham. Former steel worker.William Crawford (UKIP)John Walker (BNP)
2001 Census Demographics
Total 2001 Population: 78967
Male: 49.1%
Female: 50.9%
Under 18: 23.7%
Over 60: 19.2%
Born outside UK: 2.7%
White: 99.1%
Asian: 0.2%
Mixed: 0.3%
Other: 0.3%
Christian: 78.6%
Full time students: 2.2%
Graduates 16-74: 14.5%
No Qualifications 16-74: 28.5%
Owner-Occupied: 76.5%
Social Housing: 16.5% (Council: 13.1%, Housing Ass.: 3.3%)
Privately Rented: 5.2%
Homes without central heating and/or private bathroom: 7.5%
I have a feeling that Labour may lose most of their seats in North Wales.
North Wales has pockets of deprivation and also poor quality public services. People from North Wales can see the clear disparity in the quality and funding of schools and ot investment in roads etc. when they visit England .
Look at the difference between the M56 Motorway and the A55 Trunk road.
Look at the difference between the A74(M) and the A55.
Wales has been treated like the Black Sheep of the Family.
As someone living in this area, I am surprised how ignorant others are to the demographics of this area. It might have a bearing why their parties do so badly in elections.
Manufacturing is very big in this area, as is employment. The area has not been hit badly by the recession in the sense of outright job loses. However, the general income of the area has lowered due to lots of short hours. While a visitor to the area might see it as run down, its actually got the lowest unemployment and levels of economic inactivity in the whole of North Wales.
There is a tradition here of voting for the monkey with the Labour rosette, but that is slowly changing. While there has been personal empathy with Mark Tami for his personal situation, it has been noted that as an MP he has done practically nothing of value for the area.
Connected to that, the BNP are rumoured to have a commercial base in the area. Its voter base has strong socialist backgound from the old union days and is the first choice of Labour voters who feel that nobody is listening to them. The racist angle is missing though as the county is the 2nd least diverse in Wales.
The Tory support could be split by the UKIP support meaning that even after losing support to the BNP, Labour are very likely to get in. The main danger for them is voter apathy changing to a protest vote and the UKIP not getting the support they would like to get.
Personally, I will vote for the monkey who ate his rossette – always liked a rebel!