Who wants to be an Assembly Member – the selections

Amidst all the focus on the new Coalition Government and the spats between Cardiff Bay, the Wales Office and Westminster it’s easy to forget that the Assembly Elections are just 10 months away, it means candidate selections for Assembly
seats are well underway by all the parties and there have been some fascinating developments in recent weeks and these are the ones that caught my eye.

Plaid Cymru AM Nerys Evans has given up the safe Regional Seat for Mid & West Wales and has been selected for the Carmarthen West & South Pembrokeshire seat where she will be challenging Conservative AM Angela Burns, both Nerys and Angela have shone since they were first elected in 2007. One of them will not be returning to the Assembly which is a shame.

Angela Jones Evans beat South Wales Central AM David Melding to the nomination for the Conservatives for the Vale of Glamorgan seat after her strong showing in Cardiff West during the General Election. The Vale of Glamorgan is always a close battle and with Labour Budget Minister Jane Hutt looking to regain the seat she held with just 83 votes in 2007, it could be closer than ever - you never know we may even end up with a Tory in Cardiff Bay who will listen Dylan Jones Evans on economic matters.

Former Labour Welsh Secretary, Ron Davies has been selected to stand in Caerphilly for Plaid Cymru and has a chance to win, it’s quite a coup for Plaid, but no doubt Labour will pull every dirty trick they know to get Jeff Cuthbert re-elected, its one to watch but maybe from a safe distance as the fur flies.

Cardiff Central could be in play for the first time since 1999 with the retirement of popular Lib Dem AM and former Minister Jenny Randerson, her successor is Cardiff Councillor Nigel Howells. But with the drop in support for the Lib Dems after joining the UK Coalition, I wonder how confident they are of retaining the seat or could it be a Labour gain on Election night?

Speaking of Labour, Alun Davies AM is giving up the safe Mid & West Wales Regional seat to stand in Blaenau Gwent, but unlike Nerys Evans he probably has a good chance of winning and ousting Trish Law and finally bringing Labour the prize of Nye Bevan seat after the debacle for the Party over all women shortlists and not consulting the local party which led to the election of the late Peter Law as an Independent in 2005.

And finally there has been a lot of speculation of who could top the South Wales East Regional list for the Conservative Party, one of the names mentioned is Mohammad Asghar who switched from Plaid Cymru last year. If he was selected he would be replacing William Graham who has been an AM since 1999 and who fell out with Welsh Tory Leader Nick Bourne a few years back, who is probably behind the move.Any source