Bromley & Chislehurst Blaenau Gwent

Hey
There are two by-elections tomorrow, 29th June 2006.

The first is in what used to be the safest Labour seat in Wales.
Blaenau Gwent is a historic seat in the Valleys - former MPs include founder of the NHS Nye Bevan and Labour party leader Michael Foot.

Peter Law caused the biggest upset of the 2005 election, defeating the Labour party in one of the safest seats in the county. Protesting against the imposition of all-women shortlists, he took Blaenau Gwent on a swing of 49%.
Will his close friend Dai Davies keep the independent spirit of the Valleys or will the seat fall back to Labour?
Law's seat in the Welsh Assembly is also being contested.

The second by-election is also being held in another "safe seat", this time Bromley & Chislehurst.

There here has been some controversy over the inclusion of some of the A-list of Tory candidates in the selection process. Members of the Cameron beautiful people did not even make it into the final few.
In the end London assembly member Bob Neill was chosen to fight the seat.

In May 2005 Forth was re-elected with a majority of 13, 342 and 51.1% of the vote. It is highly likely that the Tories will retain the seat.
They are facing a lot of opponents from right-wing and fascist parties - UKIP, English Democrats, National Front - so keep an eye on how many voted they get in this deeply Conservative area on the outskirts of London.

There will be updates on these by-elections on Thursday and Friday!
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