The constituency of Conwy is centred on the seaside town of Llandudno and includes the university town of Bangor. It is also something of a retirement location, and has one of the oldest population profiles in Wales. Conwy is traditionally a Conservative seat that, on occasions, has been won by Labour. Between 1970 and 1997 it was held by Sir Wyn Roberts (now Lord Roberts) who served at the Welsh Office as Minister of State between 1979 and 1996, making him the longest (continuously) serving minister in one post in the 20th century. Roberts' first and last victories were achieved with majorities of under 1000; all that appeared to have changed over two decades was that it was now the Liberal Democrats in second place as opposed to the Labour Party.

It was not the Liberal Democrats who won in 1997, however; instead the Labour Party came from third place to take the seat. The constituency got its first Labour MP since 1970 and its first female MP ever, Betty Williams. Since then, however, the seat has remained unpredictable. At the 1999 local council elections the Liberal Democrats increased their representation, while in the Assembly elections on the same day they did badly, with Plaid Cymru advancing from fourth place to win the seat by 114 votes. The Conservatives, who polled some 18.5% of the vote, are also not out of the race for future contests; indeed the lesson of Conwy is that the second placed party may not necessarily be the main challenger at the following election. The Conservatives' new hopeful is David Logan; Vicky Macdonald contests for the Liberal Democrats.

Parliamentary Statistics pre-Election 2001

Labour majority 1,596 (3.8%)  Conservative target 86  Liberal Democrat target  Possible Plaid Cymru target
MP Betty Williams
1997 (Turnout 75.3%)
Labour	14,561	35.0%
Liberal Democrat	12,965	31.2%
Conservative	10,085	24.3%
Plaid Cymru	2,844	6.8%
Referendum	760	1.8%
Others	345	0.8%

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For Conwy 2001 Election result - click here.