Who'll be in the hot seat - and who'll find it a comfortable ride?

A handful of seats hold the key to this assembly election.

Some have seen intense campaigning as the difference between winning and losing could be measured in just a few hundred votes.

Last time around in 1999, there were several major shocks, most notably Plaid Cymru's successes in what were considered Labour heartland seats in the south Wales vallleys.

So where is the election likely to be decided in 2003?

Rhondda

Labour is desperate to get its hands on this seat, which was won by Plaid Cymru's Geraint Davies four years ago.

It was one of the greatest shocks suffered by Labour, as it normally returns the party majorities of more than 20,000 at Westminster elections.

Leighton Andrews, one of the leading lights of the pro-devolution Yes for Wales campaign in 1997, is the Labour candidate.

Islwyn

Another seat which Labour liked to regard as its own, Plaid Cymru also took it during the last assembly election, delivering another shock to both parties.

Rhondda is a top Labour priority

The big question now is whether Plaid can hold on to the one time constituency of former Labour leader Neil Kinnock.

Vale of Glamorgan

This seat sees Jane Hutt, health minister throughout the assembly's first term, facing the Conservative health spokesman David Melding.

The Vale of Glamorgan was once the most marginal seat in Britain in parliamentary terms, when the Conservatives had a majority of just 19. It could again prove to be a close contest.

Clwyd West

This was a traditionally Conservative constituency until Tony Blair's 1997 landslide.

It elected a Labour MP, who retained his seat in 2001, and in 1999 it chose a Labour AM as well.

The Tories are now hoping to begin a revival here with Brynle Williams, who helped lead the fuel protests during autumn 2000.

Wrexham

Colwyn Bay in Clwyd West

A seat which was almost certainly destined for a Labour victory has been thrown into turmoil with the deselection of the sitting AM, John Marek, after a series of disputes with Labour colleagues in Cardiff Bay and in his constituency.

He was replaced as Labour candidate by his former secretary, Lesley Griffiths.

He is now in the hunt with his newly-formed John Marek Independent Party.

Conwy

Former Welsh Office Minister Sir Wyn Roberts managed to make this seat his own from 1970, but then in 1997 it fell to Labour.

Two years later the assembly elections saw a Plaid Cymru victory.

Conwy is the most marginal seat in Wales, and the result here remains unpredictable.

Ynys Mon

Plaid Cymru's leader Ieuan Wyn Jones won the assembly seat in 1999, but will he manage to hold it this time around?

Labour's Albert Owen became the MP with a majority of just 800 during the last general election.

Labour will be particularly keen on a victory here, as Plaid's leader is not on the regional list, and therefore does not have the "safety net" which could deliver other leading politicians to the assembly, regardless of how they do in their constituencies.