Labour keeps it Welsh - and quiet

Mr Hain told Welsh Labour's spring conference in Swansea there was a "very real danger" of a Tory first minister.

Ahead of the 2007 assembly election, Mr Hain claimed Plaid Cymru and Lib Dems could join a Tory-led coalition.

But he also told the assembly government it must deliver better services when it gains new powers.

The conference opened on Thursday by giving an enthusiastic welcome to Chancellor Gordon Brown, who said the west should undertake a "moral crusade" to overcome world poverty - the "greatest evil of our time".

We must embrace the opportunity presented by the assembly's new law-making powers to improve front line delivery Peter Hain

Mr Brown praised Wales as a country with one of the "proudest traditions for campaigning for social justice".

First Minister Rhodri Morgan, sharing the platform with Mr Brown, told party loyalists that the assembly election campaign would start now. He stressed the importance of the 2007 election, given the new powers the assembly would have under the new Government of Wales Bill.

Mr Hain told the conference on Friday that too few people realised there could be "a Tory first minister in Wales in 2007 - aided and abetted by the Lib Dems and Plaid".

"That is not what the people of Wales want - and it's absolutely the last thing Wales needs," he said. "It is our job to stop it happening."

Gordon Brown urged a moral crusade against world poverty

Mr Hain told the meeting in the Brangwyn Hall that new Lib Dem leader Sir Menzies Campbell had said he would be happy for his party to join a Tory-led assembly government, while Plaid's former president Dafydd Elis-Thomas "has said much the same thing".

"Together, Ming and Dafydd El could be the men who put the Tories back in power in Wales for the first time since the days of Hague and Redwood," he will tell delegates.

'Return to recession'

Mr Hain claimed the choice for voters was between "strong leadership from Welsh Labour against the prospect of a chaotic Tory-led coalition".

He said Tories in power would mean "a return to recession and unemployment".

But he coupled his warning about the Conservatives with a claim that Labour must use the assembly's new powers when the Government of Wales Bill comes into force.

He told his party it had to "do more to ensure that our ambitions match those of the people of Wales".

According to Mr Hain, the challenge is "no longer just about money. It's also about delivery".

He said: "So come 2007, we must embrace the opportunity presented by the assembly's new law-making powers to improve front line delivery - even better schools and hospitals, higher quality and higher standards everywhere and for everyone."