Jeremy Miles likely to bid to be Wales first minister

Vaughan Gething’s former rival Jeremy Miles is likely to run in the upcoming Welsh Labour leadership contest, BBC Wales understands.

A source close to Mr Miles, who was one of the four people who resigned from the Welsh government and forced Mr Gething to quit, said others have encouraged him to stand.

Two supporters of Mr Gething say the former economy secretary cannot unite the group and cannot be the next first minister.

Mr Gething announced he would stand down after three ministers and the Welsh government’s legal adviser dramatically released resignation statements calling for him to go.

Late on Wednesday the Welsh government announced how it would fill the vacant roles, mostly by expanding the portfolios of existing ministers.

Jack Sargeant joins the government for the first time as a junior member of the government, while Jayne Bryant has been promoted to Local Government Secretary.

One of the other men named as a potential successor to Mr Gething, Huw Irranca-Davies, failed to rule himself out of the running.

It is believed that Transport Secretary Ken Skates is considering putting his hat in the ring, but former counsel general Mick Antoniw – one of the four people who resigned – has ruled himself out.

Opposition parties have called for the first minister to fill the roles vacated.

Meanwhile Wales’ previous first minister Mark Drakeford has said that Mr Gething was “haunted” by decisions he took which he has never been able to shake off.

Mark Drakeford said the outgoing Welsh Labour leader was “dogged” by decisions taken over campaign donations and the sacking of a minister.

Another former holder of Wales’ top job, Alun Michael, said Mr Gething had been “forced out”.

Mr Miles came second in the leadership contest in March with 48.3% of the vote, versus Mr Gething’s 51.7%.

Since the result he moved from the job of education minister to economy secretary under the new first minister.

He had declined to give a view on the £200,000 donation from a controversial waste company, whose owner had been previously convicted of environmental offences, during the campaign itself – but a month later said he would not have accepted the money.

On Monday, a day before his resignation, he repeatedly failed to support Mr Gething in an interview.

In his letter to the first minister outlining why he was quitting, Mr Miles said: “The events of the last few months including you loss of the confidence vote in the Senedd have been incredibly painful.

“This has become a distraction from the important work of the Welsh government and is damaging our party”.

Dates for the contest are yet to be set, although Mr Gething has said his replacement would be installed by the autumn.

But two supporters of the first minister have told BBC Wales that Mr Miles’ involvement in forcing Mr Gething’s exit makes him unsuitable to take over.

One Gething supporter suggested they would rather “die in a ditch” than have Mr Miles as leader of the party.

They said they would like to see Eluned Morgan run, saying she was a communicator who could connect the party with traditional backers of Labour.

Another supporter said Mr Miles could not unite the party and there was “a very strong feeling that the person who is associated with a bloodied knife cannot claim the crown”.

They added: “I’m really worried about what this says to the world, to people in the United Kingdom and especially in Wales who are not white.

“It looks like a bunch of people have drawn daggers and knifed Vaughan without giving him a chance. I do find that really difficult to deal with.”

In a response, a backer of Mr Miles said: “The people who did their best to block Jeremy last time are up to their old tricks, it seems. Let the members decide.”

Mr Miles had more nominations from Labour Senedd members than Mr Gething last year, with 16 versus Mr Gething’s ten.

A separate Miles supporter said it was not “credible” for Mr Gething to carry on through the summer as he no longer had the support of “the group, cabinet or Senedd”.

“That can’t be shrugged off and major decisions continued under a set of caretaker ministers as if the political geography hasn’t altered.”

By Cemlyn Davies, political correspondent

After coming so close four months ago, it is not surprising that Jeremy Miles is said to be “likely” to run again to be Welsh Labour leader.

But he’ll know that some staunch Vaughan Gething allies in the Senedd Labour group, who feel Mr Miles has played his part in their man’s downfall, are very much opposed to him becoming leader.

However, as long as enough Labour MSs back him (and most of them did last time around), his opponents won’t be able to prevent him getting on the ballot paper.

It would then be down to the membership to decide if he should lead the party.

In the meantime, I’m hearing differing accounts about the sequence of events that ultimately led to Mr Gething’s decision to step down.

Sources have told me that three of the cabinet members who resigned on Tuesday morning – including Mr Miles – tried to meet Mr Gething beforehand in the hope their resignations could still be avoided, but he wouldn’t see them.

However, an aide to the first minister has said there was no such request for a meeting.

Speaking on BBC Radio Wales Breakfast, Mark Drakeford said there were “decisions” made by Mr Gething “that have haunted him”.

“They’ve lived with him over the weeks and months that go by and he’s never been able to shake those original decisions off.

“In the end, I think he came to the very difficult decision but the correct decision, that he was never going to get to a point where he would be able to focus on the things he wanted to in the way he wanted to do them, without these stories always being the filter through which news of his first ministership was going to be reported.”

Mr Drakeford said there had to be a contest for the leadership and he was “opposed to a coronation”.

He added: “I think it can be a cathartic experience for the Labour Party, and I think that members of the public will benefit from being able to see the candidates who could be Labour’s nominee for leader.”

There has been talk of whether there could be an interim first minister over the Summer but Mr Drakeford said Mr Gething should be allowed to stay in post to avoid “another change”.

When asked, he said he “absolutely would not” like the interim job.

Mr Irranca-Davies has not ruled out throwing his hat into the ring, but said it was “too early to speculate”.

Without naming individuals, political consultant Cathy Owens said it would be difficult for someone “involved with some of the shenanigans” and some of the “acrimony” to be Welsh Labour leader.

Ms Owens, who advised the late first minister Rhodri Morgan, said Labour needed a Marks & Spencer candidate, as “it’s not anybody’s favourite shop” but nobody hates it.

She said the next leader is going to have to “unite their party whilst also negotiating with the opposition”.

Mr Michael, who led the Labour administration in the Welsh assembly from 1999 to 2000, told BBC Radio 4’s The World Tonight: “A lot of people are very angry and frustrated about the fact that Vaughan has been in effect forced out.”

Andrew RT Davies, leader of the Welsh Conservatives in the Senedd, said an interim cabinet needed to be appointed as people “rightly want to know how those ministers’ portfolio responsibilities will be carried out while a new first minister is selected”.

Plaid Cymru claimed Labour was now “rudderless” and repeated calls for a Senedd election.

Plaid’s Llyr Gruffydd said: “Today is the last day of the parliamentary term before summer recess. The first minister must come to the Senedd and set out his plans to ensure a functioning government at the very least.

In Wednesday’s cabinet reshuffle, Jack Sargeant joined the government for the first time as minister for social partnership.

Ken Skates, who is already transport secretary, will take on Jeremy Miles’ former portfolio as economy secretary as an additional responsibility.

Jayne Bryant, the Newport West MS, will be promoted to be cabinet secretary for local government and housing.

Sarah Murphy will move to be minister for mental health and early years.

Jane Hutt’s job will expand to cover Lesley Griffiths’ former role. As well as chief whip, she will be cabinet secretary for culture and social justice.

Mick Antoniw’s job as counsel general has not been replaced as of yet.

Mr Gething will retain oversight on discussions with Tata Steel, he said.

On Tuesday, Mr Gething announced he was resigning as first minister and that a new leader would be in place in the autumn.

It came after four cabinet members all quit their positions simultaneously and demanded he follow suit.

He will carry on leading the Welsh government until his successor is chosen.

Mr Gething has been dogged by questions over the £200,000 campaign donation from Dauson Environmental Group.

He has also been criticised over the sacking of former minister Hannah Blythyn for allegedly leaking to the media, which she denies.

In his resignation speech, Mr Gething denied any wrongdoing, saying: “I regret that the burden of proof is no longer an important commodity in the language of our politics.

“In 11 years as a minister, I have never ever made a decision for personal gain.

“I have never ever misused or abused my ministerial responsibilities.”

Mr Michael, who resigned from Labour’s top job in Wales in 2000, said he was a friend of Mr Gething’s and had spoken to him on Tuesday.

“He’s very sad and he’s very regretful that he hasn’t been provided with the support that he needed,” he said.

Mr Michael said there were “good people in the Senedd” who could be leadership contenders, including Ms Morgan and Mr Irranca-Davies.

The ruling body of Welsh Labour will meet at the weekend and is expected to set out a timetable for the leadership campaign.