The new First Minister said public services would come first for the people of Wales over further devolution and promised to “reform” the Labour party if she was elected Lord Chancellor.
Former health secretary Eldest Morgan was sworn in on Tuesday to become Welsh Labour’s third leader this year. He succeeds his predecessor, Vaughan Gething, who was forced to resign after less than 140 days in office following a controversy over donations and falsely accusing a sacked minister of leaking messages.
Morgan, the first female leader of Wales and the only candidate to succeed Gething, said she was keenly aware of her lack of experience in a leadership contest and felt the need to set out her position to the public and understand how she could “reset” the government.
“We need to refresh our government,” she said. “Having a new female prime minister means things look different, things sound different, things change, and I think that gives us an opportunity to take that refresh seriously.”
She added: “I think we have to take the opportunity in our administration to reinvent ourselves and really focus on the things that matter to people.”
Morgan said he would be touring for the rest of the summer to understand the key priorities for the people of Wales.
“My guess is that they would prefer to prioritise public services rather than pushing for further devolution at this point, but I know that devolution is important to many people in Wales and indeed it’s important to me too,” she said.
Labour has promised to review further devolution for Wales, but made no major commitments on three key issues – policing, justice or the rail network. Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s 2022 devolution report proposed devolving powers over juvenile justice and probation, but not police, prisons or adult courts.
Morgan said she expected to see more progress in the future. “In terms of devolution, I don’t expect it to happen overnight with the police, but in terms of youth justice and probation, we will probably see progress and that would be a big step forward,” she said.
There have yet to be any violent unrest in Wales linked to far-right rallies in towns across England and Northern Ireland, but Morgan said he was “not complacent” and that one of his first meetings as first minister would be to bring together police chiefs and community leaders to discuss strategies to prevent similar violence.
“We are not taking anything for granted but we are working hard to prevent any potential disruption in Wales,” she said.
A new campaign called “Hate Hearts Wales” launches on Monday. “I think monitoring tensions in our communities and responding if new tensions erupt will help us to tackle hate crime,” she said.
“We know very well that what we need is an environment where everyone feels valued and able to contribute to their community, and I hope that came across very clearly in my speech today.”
Recent weeks have been “challenging and turbulent, but we know we perform at our best when we work together as a party and as a country,” Morgan said in a speech on the Senate floor.
Plaid Cymru leader Rune ap Iowelt said the party “wishes Mr Morgan all the best today”, but with no election having been held, doubts have been raised over Mr Morgan’s legitimacy as prime minister.
“We also remind her and her government that in other similar circumstances, senior Labour leaders have argued that repeated changes of leadership in Westminster and Scotland undermine the government’s democratic legitimacy and have called for new elections,” he said. “It is Labour’s role to explain why different rules should apply in Wales.”
Labour leader and Chancellor Keir Starmer welcomed Morgan’s appointment, saying she had “made history” as the first female prime minister. “In this new chapter, we will deliver growth in every corner of the country and deliver the high quality public services people deserve,” Starmer said.
