Rhun ap Iorwerth Eyes Plaid Cymru First Minister Role After Senedd Victory

Rhun ap Iorwerth said he hopes to become the first Plaid Cymru first minister on Tuesday after his party's victory in the Senedd election.

Ap Iorwerth now leads the largest group in Cardiff Bay with 43 seats. He needs a vote of Senedd members to secure the appointment, but Labour's interim Welsh leader, Ken Skates, indicated his party is unlikely to oppose him.

Ap Iorwerth told BBC Wales, "certainly Tuesday is what we would prefer," but any delay "won't be much" and Plaid was keen to "hit the ground running."

Skates called the idea of teaming up with Reform members to block ap Iorwerth "deeply unpleasant" for Labour Senedd members. He said they will make a "final decision" on Monday.

Both politicians spoke on BBC Radio Wales' Sunday Supplement.

Reform holds 34 MSs, Labour has nine, the Conservatives seven, the Green Party two and one Liberal Democrat in the expanded 96-member Welsh Parliament.

Outgoing Labour First Minister Eluned Morgan lost her seat in the election and announced she was resigning as Welsh Labour leader.

Ap Iorwerth wants Plaid Cymru to govern alone rather than bring other parties into his administration. He told BBC Radio Wales he was seeking cross-party cooperation and wanted support from across the Senedd.

He said he had spoken to all other party leaders except Reform's Dan Thomas, who "didn't feel like he wanted to speak with me as leader of Plaid Cymru."

Reform immediately denied the suggestion. "We provided a number for the purpose of Rhun contacting Dan," a spokesperson said. "We made a clear communication channel if they wanted to reach him, he hasn't. Rhun said Dan didn't want to speak to him. That's not true."

Skates, Senedd member for Fflint Wrecsam, said Labour Senedd members will meet Monday to decide how to vote on ap Iorwerth's nomination. "We're going to meet tomorrow to make a final decision on this, but the idea of teaming up with Reform is deeply unpleasant for all of the members of my group," he said.

The Labour group is expected to abstain in the vote.

Skates described Labour's election loss as "a catastrophic defeat, no doubt about it" and called Morgan a "phenomenal leader" in "difficult times." He warned Welsh Labour to avoid the "blame game" and unite.

"We need to look at the reasons for our defeat in the most objective manner possible," he said, calling for an investigation like a "forensic study."

Later, Skates announced he wanted to become the permanent Welsh Labour leader. He told BBC Politics Wales, "I'd love the job, longer term. 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, and it's my intention to do that in as short a period as possible."

Skates has held cabinet roles including transport and economy.

On Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, ap Iorwerth confirmed he had spoken to the SNP and Sinn Fein first ministers in Scotland and Northern Ireland. He believed they could all "work and stand together" to get a better deal for their populations.

"There are a number of different ways that we can work together," he said. "The way that we use the natural resources off our coasts, for example. But there's a deeper sense than that, too, of being able to make a stand together to call for less inequality within these islands."

"We are a union that is not a union of equals, and the stronger we can stand together to make the case to the UK government for a new approach to dealing with Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland [the better]. We'll do that separately, I'll do it as first minister of Wales. But of course, yes, people were turning to us to stop the populist right from getting a foothold and to be that voice for Wales that Labour showed they weren't able to [provide]."