Former Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales, Ken Skates, has been appointed Interim Leader of Welsh Labour following a meeting of the Welsh Labour Group earlier today.
Skates will serve as leader until a timetable is set for a full leadership election in line with Welsh Labour Rules. He received unanimous support from the new Welsh Labour group.
He was first elected in 2011, has held several Welsh Government roles including Transport Secretary and Economy and Infrastructure Secretary. Skates was re-elected to the Senedd for Fflint Wrecsam yesterday.
Speaking following his appointment, Ken Skates said “Today is just the beginning of a process that will help us to understand what we got wrong. Because we did get it wrong. There is no reading of this result that endorses every action we have taken as a Party, and our task now is to take the time needed and to work out what has happened. It is a task that will require every single one of us to take part in - every member, every councillor, every MS, MP, Lord and all roles in between. But it is not a task that is beyond us.
“I believe today, as I always have, that Welsh Labour is at its best when we are the champions of the people of Wales, our role is to serve, to fight for the issues that matter most. We are the Party that first sent Keir Hardie to Parliament, that created the NHS. We are the Party of devolution, the Party of free prescriptions, universal free school meals, social partnership and the future generations act.
"We are a party with an incredible history of serving Wales and her people, and we have so much more to give.”
His appointment as Interim Leader comes as former First Minister Eluned Morgan failed to retain her seat in the Ceredigion Penfro constituency.
Paying tribute to Eluned Morgan, Ken Skates said “I would like to thank Eluned for everything she has done over the past 2 years as our First Minister, and in her 30 years of service to Wales and the Labour Party. Her grit and determination in the face of true challenge is something we as a Party will always be proud of. She broke the glass ceiling, and her role in history as the first woman to lead our Party and country is an achievement second to none.”
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