Edwina Hart and Carwyn Jones will stand for the leadership in Wales

By Alex Smith / @alexsmith1982

Carwyn Jones and Edwina Hart have both signalled their intention to stand as Leader of Welsh Labour in the past couple of days, after Rhodri Morgan stepped down at the end of last week.

Speaking to members of his Bridgend CLP, Carwyn Jones said:

“Over the last few weeks I have spoken to most Welsh Labour Assembly Members and most Welsh Labour MPs. I am persuaded that I have strong support for my candidacy in both the National Assembly Labour Group and the Welsh Parliamentary Labour Party. I am standing as a candidate who can build unity between the Assembly Group and Welsh Labour MPs. Welsh Labour is at its best when it is united, with Labour in the Assembly and Labour at Westminster working together. It’s a formidable force when we get it right and I will fight at the forefront of that force for a Labour victory in the General Election next year. Over the last year, I have travelled across Wales talking to members of our party and to trades unionists and listening to what they have to say. They want a Leader who listens to people, and a Leader who learns from people. One who leads by example – a decisive leader, but a thoughtful one.”

Mr Jones is supported in his candidacy by Leighton Andrews, Lesley Griffiths, Jane Davidson, John Griffiths and Alun Davies, who each joined him at his announcement.

Meanwhile, Mrs Hart, AM for Gower, said:

“I was brought up in a family where practical politics was part of everyday life, both through the trade unions and in local councils. That experience taught me, from early on, that standing up for working people takes determination. No advances for progressive causes have ever been made without a struggle, including devolution itself. When my mother was born, women in Wales had never had the vote. Now, less than a century later, I am a candidate to be the first woman to lead our Party in Wales. None of this has happened without the Labour movement and I am proud of the part I have been able to play, both as President of the Wales TUC and as Minister in Rhodri Morgan’s Assembly Government for the past ten years. I believe I can offer the combination of experience and determination to help reconnect our Party with its wider supporters and to win a Labour majority at the next Assembly elections.“

Edwina’s candidacy is supported by Andrew Davies, Janice Gregory, Christine Chapman, Val Lloyd, Sandy Mewies, Jeff Cuthbert, Rosemary Butler and Gwenda Thomas.