Jeremy Corbyn has brushed off the idea that the Welsh first minister is leaving office under a cloud after Carwyn Jones announced he was stepping down as the pressure over the death of Carl Sargeant intensified.
Corbyn thanked Jones for his “tireless” work as leader of Labour in Wales and said he had been a strong voice for democracy, devolution and standing up for the Welsh people.
Asked if Jones was leaving under a cloud, Corbyn said that he was departing with a great deal of affection. However, there is little doubt that Jones’s nine-year spell as first minister will be most remembered for the tragedy of Sargeant, who killed himself shortly after he was sacked by Jones when he faced allegations of harassment.
Among the early frontrunners to take over is Mark Drakeford, the finance secretary, who said he was thinking “very seriously” about standing. Another possible candidate is Vaughan Gething, who became the first black minister in any devolved UK administration five years ago.
A row is already brewing over how the new first minister will be elected.
Shortly before Jones announced he was stepping down, the Swansea East MP Carolyn Harris won the Welsh Labour deputy leadership election through an electoral college system – rather than one member, one vote.
Her rival Julie Morgan, whose late husband, Rhodri, was first minister before Jones, lost despite being backed by more party members.
There are growing calls for the new leader to be elected under one member, one vote. Corbyn said the method used was up to the Welsh Labour party.
Jones, who will leave in the autumn, said he had faced the “darkest times” in recent months.
He has been under intense pressure since Sargeant’s death and his position had been made more awkward by the election of Sargeant’s son, Jack, to the Alyn and Deeside parliamentary seat in north Wales.
Last week, opposition parties in Wales fiercely criticised the government for blocking the full publication of a report examining claims that news of Sargeant’s dismissal was leaked in the days before his death.
A day before Jones’s announcement, lawyers for Jack Sargeant published a letter accusing Jones of causing considerable distress. The main inquiry into the Sargeant affair has not yet begun and Jones promised he would answer every question asked.
Jones is an experienced election campaign leader, who has guided Welsh Labour to a string of victories. Together with the Scottish National party, he has played an important role in holding the UK government to account over Brexit. There is a danger that his announcement will weaken that position.
Until the Sargeant tragedy, Jones was regarded as a safe pair of hands who may not have been as charismatic or well-known as his predecessor Rhodri Morgan, but appealed to a broad range of voters and Labour party activists.
After the defeat of the Labour party in the 2010 UK general election and the resignation of Gordon Brown as prime minister, Jones became the most senior Labour leader in power.
Since then, one of his missions has been to protect Wales against the impact of austerity. His government’s record in the devolved areas of education and health have been frequently attacked by political opponents in Westminster, but he has defended his administration robustly. Under his watch, the Welsh assembly has been given power to make its own laws and to raise some tax revenues.
Jones, who is married with two children, is particularly proud of a landmark scheme under which people are deemed to have consented to organ donation unless they opt out that has been credited with saving lives.
In an interview with the Guardian shortly before Sargeant’s death to mark the 20th anniversary of Welsh devolution, Jones said he believed that Wales was more successful and confident than two decades ago. He said he was also much more confident, buoyed by excellent results in the general election and was still enjoying the top job.
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