Arabic version: رهن أب يورفيرث يهدف إلى دور وزير أول بعد فوز بلايد كمري

According to BBC News,

Rhun ap Iorwerth hopes to become the first Plaid Cymru first minister on Tuesday, after its Senedd election victory. Leading the largest Cardiff Bay group, with 43 seats, ap Iorwerth needs to win a vote of Senedd members to be appointed, but Labour’s interim Welsh leader, Ken Skates, has indicated it 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”.

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 on its own, rather than seeking to bring another party or parties into his administration. He has been reaching out to other party leaders for cross-party cooperation, although he noted that Dan Thomas from Reform has been unresponsive to his attempts to communicate.

Ken Skates described Labour’s electoral defeat as “catastrophic” and emphasized the need for unity within the party. The Labour group is expected to abstain from voting on ap Iorwerth’s nomination. Skates has expressed interest in becoming the permanent leader of Welsh Labour, aiming to rebuild the party’s standing among voters.

Ap Iorwerth has also engaged with leaders from the SNP and Sinn Féin, emphasizing the importance of collaboration among the nations of the UK. He believes that working together can lead to better outcomes for Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, particularly regarding resource management and addressing inequalities. He highlighted that Plaid Cymru’s election success reflects a strong mandate from the electorate, not merely a response to Labour’s decline or the rise of Reform.