General election 2019: Focus on Ynys Mon

Telford's Menai suspension bridge was 200 years old in 2019

Anglesey is located off the north Wales coast and separated from the mainland by the Menai Strait.

Apart from its scenic beauty, it also has the UK's second busiest ferry port at Holyhead, which is a gateway to southern Ireland, and could be home to one of the UK's new nuclear power plants if the stalled project progresses.

The new incumbent of the Ynys Mon constituency seat is sure to face many challenges but may be buoyed by the fact every sitting MP here who has sought re-election since 1955 has succeeded.

The Ynys Mon constituency has multiple claims to fame.

It was the first rural seat in Britain to be won by Labour, the first Welsh constituency to elect a woman and is the only Welsh constituency to have been held by all four major Welsh parties.

It is also a seat which tends only to change hands when a sitting member retires - so when Labour's Albert Owen announced that he was hanging up his boots a fierce three way fight to succeed him was more or less guaranteed.

Anglesey voted narrowly in favour of leaving the EU but the exact form of Brexit could have a major impact on Holyhead. The island's farmers too will want to ensure the best possible deal.

Add to that, the stalled plans for a new nuclear power station at Wylfa and congestion on the current bridges across the Menai Strait and this is one seat where local issues could prove more important than national trends.

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The Isle of Anglesey is known in constituency terms by its Welsh name, Ynys Mon. The island's coat of arms includes the motto "Mon mam Cymru" or "Anglesey, mother of Wales" because of its high quality farmland, providing food for the nation.

But there has always been more to the island than just farming and dramatic scenery.

For years, major employers such as Anglesey Aluminium, Wylfa nuclear power station, Octel chemical works and Rehau plastics provided residents with skilled and well paid jobs.

Campaigners against the nuclear plant said the industry's economics were "hopeless"

But many of those industrial employers have closed or are closing, and plans for a new nuclear power station at Wylfa were put on hold earlier this year.

Resident Gwilym Owen, who worked at the former Anglesey Aluminium, said: "Wylfa has got to be the main topic for any politician and any party that's successful in the election. It's on stall at the moment.

"There was such high hopes that Wylfa B was a reality - it seemed to be all systems go, green lights were up. But for some reason, that process has now stalled."

Brexit is also an issue on the minds of voters in Ynys Mon.

Beth Whitney is yet to decide who she will vote for

The island is one of the places where Britain's departure from the European Union will be clearly noticeable.

The port of Holyhead is closer to Dublin than to the English border and thousands of lorries a week pass through on their way to Ireland.

Beth Whitney, who lives in Amlwch Port, has another concern relating to Brexit.

"A lot of European money has come to the island, but with Brexit, what's going to replace that - if anything?" she said.

Holyhead is Britain's second busiest port with services to Ireland

For retired David Hughes there is one key issue.

"There's a lack of decent jobs locally," he said. "One of my sons has moved out to Saudi because there's not jobs here. He's gone away to try to save to get a mortgage.

"Hopefully one day he can come back.

"How will I vote? I'll toss a coin the night before maybe. Genuinely I don't know. "