By accepting the office of Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead on 10 January 2000, he formally vacated his seat.

Labour, who had come second in the previous general election, chose a local social worker, Maria Battle.

The constituency was part of the area of Wales that was granted Objective One status in 1999, but under European rules the funding had to be matched by a minimum of 25% from other sources, including private funding and resources from central and local government.

Plaid Cymru, Conservative and Liberal Democrat politicians demanded this funding be made available solely from central government in addition to the block grant already paid to the Welsh Assembly by the UK Treasury, and the chief reporter for Wales on Sunday newspaper Martin Shipton stood as a single-issue candidate demanding 'Match Funding now'.

The Labour administration in the Welsh Assembly insisted that such a demand misrepresented the resourcing of Objective 1 programmes.