Wales' first minister refuses to support Keir Starmer

Wales' first minister has refused to support Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, telling the BBC the leader of the Labour party is "not on the ballot" at her country's elections in May.

Eluned Morgan repeatedly refused to say if she thought Sir Keir was good at his job when she was interviewed by the Radio 4's Today programme on Wednesday morning.

Instead, Welsh Labour leader Morgan said the Senedd election was not a time for the public in Wales to protest against the UK government.

The UK government was asked for comment.

Sir Keir has faced months of speculation about his future, while Plaid Cymru and Reform have been vying for the top spot in Welsh election opinion polls.

Last week Morgan said the prime minister was only welcome to campaign with her in Wales if he brought "goodies", like announcements of new investment projects.

Asked on Radio 4's Today programme on Wednesday if she thought Sir Keir is a good prime minister, Morgan said: "What I'm saying to the people of Wales is that he's not on the ballot paper. That is not what people will be voting for in May."

Asked again, she added: "This is not an... opportunity for a free hit against the UK government. This is not a time for protest votes.

"The things that matter here is who is going to deliver those services that people rely on in Wales.

"They'll have a choice between the chaos Reform will offer, [or] the pipe dreams that Plaid will offer, which will be a road to independence."

In the interview Morgan also suggested that voters were not interested in whether Wales's parliament, the Senedd, should take control of policing in Wales - days after she made the request herself in a speech in London.

The Welsh government's long-standing policy idea was firmly ruled out by UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood on Monday.

When it was put to her that Westminster showed no interest in the request, Morgan said: "I think what people in Wales are concerned with are the bread and butter issues in their daily lives."

Pressed if it was now a dead issue, she added: "We've been consistent in our ask in relation to policing, not only under the Labour government, but prior to that under the Tory government.

"I think in May what people are interested in is looking to the future, that next chapter where we will be growing the economy of Wales."

In a separate interview with BBC Wales on Tuesday evening, Morgan repeatedly refused to directly answer questions about the home secretary's remarks, or whether she would be able to persuade her Westminster colleagues to give her what she wanted.

Questioned whether Mahmood's response was a kick in the teeth, Morgan said she had made her position on the devolution of policing "clear" in her speech.

Morgan had called for a host of devolution changes in her speech at Institute for Government, calling on Westminster colleagues to help prevent a pro-independence majority at the Senedd election.

The Welsh Conservatives' Senedd leader Darren Millar said: "We've got a UK and Welsh Labour government more interested in fighting one another than fighting to improve the lives of the people of Wales."

A Plaid Cymru spokesperson said Morgan had spent months "boasting about the benefits of the so-called 'partnership in power', and now she's attempting to distance herself from Starmer as she realises how deeply unpopular he is".

A Reform UK Wales spokesperson said: "Labour and Plaid want to spend the whole election talking about the constitution. This is the kind of trivial distraction that has led to soaring NHS waiting lists and plummeting educational outcomes here in Wales."

Plaid leader Rhun ap Iorwerth also told the Today programme on Wednesday that a vote for his party at the next election was not a vote for Wales to separate from the rest of the UK.

"We've made it very clear that this isn't an election about independence," he said.

"This is an election about getting to grips with the problems that we face in health and education and create jobs."

Challenged that he would not be in a position to get the money and powers he wants from Westminster, he said Labour in Wales had "failed abjectly to get anything out of UK government".

"There's something fundamentally undemocratic about it, thinking this government will only give something to Wales if it is able to hoard power there too," he said.

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