Carmarthen East & Dinefwr
Plaid Cymru gain

The hot tip for a Labour loss in Celtic Cymru lies here in this Carmarthen East seat. The Welsh Nationalists very much hope and expect to pick up a fifth MP. In May 1999 Plaid Cymru beat Labour by no fewer than 6,980 votes in the Welsh Assembly contest. The next month, Plaid Cymru polled the most votes again, in the far less parochial (or rather national) European elections. It is a seat where two-thirds of the population can speak the Welsh language and its gain would neatly complete the full hand of majority Welsh-speaking seats.

Labour's Alan Williams, a tiny, piping ex-science lecturer, elected here in 1987, born 1945 and educated at Carmarthen Grammar School and Jesus College Oxford, is distinguished from his Swansea namesake by his stature, voice and doctorate. Though a Welsh speaker in a majority Welsh-speaking seat, he has taken on the cultural fascism of nationalists who want to impose Welsh-only teaching in schools. His likely nemesis comes in the shape of Plaid Cymru's Adam Price, a miner's son Carmarthen born in 1968, educated at Dyffryn Amman School and Cardiff and Saarland Universities, director of an economic development consultancy and active campaigner for EU Objective funding for West Wales. The only majority Welsh-speaking seat not to be held by the nationalists currently, he should be a shoe-in.

Welsh Labour Party

Plaid Cymru

Welsh Liberal Democrats

Carmarthenshire County Council

Area Percent GB Percent Index GB=100   Thriving Wealthy Achievers, Suburban Areas 9.85% 14.99% 65.72 Affluent Greys, Rural Communities 30.30% 2.13% 1,425.18 Prosperous Pensioners, Retirement Areas 0.51% 2.49% 20.42 Expanding Affluent Executives, Family Areas 0.00% 4.43% 0.00 Well-Off Workers, Family Areas 0.00% 7.27% 0.00 Rising Affluent Urbanites, Town & City Areas 0.05% 2.56% 1.78 Prosperous Professionals, Metropolitan Areas 0.00% 2.04% 0.00 Better-Off Executives, Inner City Areas 0.02% 3.94% 0.58 Settling Comfortable Middle Agers, Mature Home Owning Areas 28.67% 13.04% 219.89 Skilled Workers, Home Owning Areas 4.82% 12.70% 37.98 Aspiring New Home Owners, Mature Communities 20.53% 8.14% 252.09 White Collar Workers, Better-Off Multi Ethnic Areas 2.21% 4.02% 55.00 Striving Older People, Less Prosperous Areas 0.90% 3.19% 28.28 Council Estate Residents, Better-Off Homes 2.13% 11.31% 18.82 Council Estate Residents, High Unemployment 0.00% 3.06% 0.00 Council Estate Residents, Greatest Hardship 0.00% 2.52% 0.00 People in Multi-Ethnic, Low-Income Areas 0.00% 2.10% 0.00 Unclassified Unclassified 0.00% 0.06% 0.00

Area Percent GB Percent Index GB=100   £0-5K 11.23% 9.41% 119.34 £5-10K 19.31% 16.63% 116.09 £10-15K 18.50% 16.58% 111.59 £15-20K 14.43% 13.58% 106.22 £20-25K 10.44% 10.39% 100.46 £25-30K 7.36% 7.77% 94.67 £30-35K 5.16% 5.79% 89.08 £35-40K 3.63% 4.33% 83.80 £40-45K 2.58% 3.27% 78.88 £45-50K 1.85% 2.48% 74.33 £50-55K 1.34% 1.90% 70.16 £55-60K 0.98% 1.47% 66.33 £60-65K 0.72% 1.15% 62.83 £65-70K 0.54% 0.91% 59.62 £70-75K 0.41% 0.72% 56.67 £75-80K 0.31% 0.57% 53.96 £80-85K 0.24% 0.46% 51.48 £85-90K 0.18% 0.37% 49.18 £90-95K 0.14% 0.31% 47.06 £95-100K 0.11% 0.25% 45.10 £100K + 0.48% 1.34% 35.78