Plaid Cymru leader hopes to be made first minister on Tuesday

Mark Mansfield

Rhun ap Iorwerth has said he hopes to become Wales’ next First Minister on Tuesday after Plaid Cymru emerged as the largest party in the Senedd election.

The party won 43 seats in the expanded 96-member Senedd, ahead of Reform UK on 34, with Welsh Labour reduced to just nine seats in its worst result since devolution began.

Mr Ap Iorwerth needs the backing of a majority of Senedd members to be formally appointed First Minister, but opposition parties have signalled they are unlikely to block him.

Jane Dodds, the sole Liberal Democrat MS, said she would abstain if ap Iorwerth’s name was put forward.

Speaking to the BBC on her way to be sworn in as MS for Brycheiniog Tawe Nedd, Dodds said: “I am really clear we are not going to back any Reform UK first minister.

“I am going to abstain if it’s Rhun’s name that goes forward.

“We don’t support independence and Plaid don’t have a majority so I will be abstaining.”

Interim Welsh Labour leader Ken Skates suggested Labour was unlikely to oppose Plaid’s nomination.

Speaking on BBC Radio Wales’ Sunday Supplement, Skates said the idea of Labour “teaming up with Reform” to block the Plaid leader was “deeply unpleasant” for Labour Senedd members.

Labour MSs are expected to meet on Monday to decide how they will vote.

Delay

Mr Ap Iorwerth told BBC Wales he hoped the process of appointing a new First Minister could happen quickly.

“Certainly Tuesday is what we would prefer,” he said, adding that any delay “won’t be much” because Plaid wanted to “hit the ground running”.

The Plaid leader said he wanted to govern alone rather than enter into a formal coalition, but pledged to work cooperatively across the Senedd.

“We want actively to get support of people in other parties. I will be explicitly cooperative,” he told the BBC.

He said he had spoken to all party leaders except Reform’s Dan Thomas, although the two parties later disputed whether contact had been attempted.

The election result marked the end of Labour’s century-long electoral dominance in Wales and 27 years leading Welsh governments since devolution.

Outgoing First Minister Eluned Morgan lost her own seat and announced her resignation as Welsh Labour leader on Friday.

‘Catastrophic’

Speaking to the BBC, Skates described Labour’s defeat as “catastrophic” and said the party needed a “forensic study” into what went wrong.

Later, he told BBC Politics Wales he intended to stand for the permanent leadership of Welsh Labour.

“I’d love the job, longer term,” he said.

“I’d love the job for as long as it takes to build us back and to renew us and to return us to power.”

Mr Ap Iorwerth also used a series of broadcast interviews to urge the UK Labour government to rethink its relationship with Wales.

Stronger voice

Speaking on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, he said Wales needed a stronger voice within the UK and suggested closer cooperation with nationalist administrations in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

“There’s a deeper sense than that, too, of being able to make a stand together to call for less inequality within these islands,” he said.

He also rejected suggestions Plaid’s success was simply a by-product of Labour’s collapse or anti-Reform tactical voting.

“Plaid Cymru has won a larger popular vote in this election than any other party in the history of devolution,” he said.

“That cannot all be put down to what is happening around the other political parties.”