Welsh first minister backs Starmer but calls Mandelson scandal 'troubling'

Welsh First Minister Eluned Morgan has backed Sir Keir Starmer staying on as prime minister, saying "the country needs stability in an age of instability".

But Morgan also called the Lord Mandelson scandal "deeply troubling" and that "once again, the voices of women and girls were ignored".

Her comments come a day after Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar called for Sir Keir to resign, after which Morgan was criticised for remaining silent as Sir Keir battled to shore up his premiership.

UK cabinet ministers, including the Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens, responded to Sarwar's call by offering their support to the prime minister.

Morgan said in a statement on Tuesday morning that she backed Sir Keir "in the job he was elected to do", but also set out her own concerns about his leadership.

"I had concerns that Peter Mandelson was incompatible with public office because of the company he kept. What has since come to light has only reinforced those concerns," she said.

She said the failure of ignoring female voices regarding Lord Mandelson's appointment "must be acknowledged and confronted honestly".

The Welsh Labour leader also said the prime minister needed to deliver more for Wales, including "action on the cost of living, investment in our economy and infrastructure, and a continued commitment to stronger devolution".

Later in the Senedd, Conservative leader Darren Millar accused Morgan of not having "the guts to call for the resignation of the prime minister yesterday".

He asked the first minister if Sir Keir had her "full confidence".

"Yes he does," Morgan said, adding that she contacted Sir Keir before he met Labour MPs in Westminster on Monday evening.

"I think this country has had enough of changing prime ministers every couple of years," she said.

Asked by Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth why she did not raise concerns about the Mandelson scandal publicly on Monday, Morgan said: "My job as first minister is to improve the lives of people in Wales, not to provide a running commentary on Westminster politics."

Ap Iorwerth accused Morgan of being in the "pocket" of the Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens and that Labour MPs were "calling the shots", saying Morgan got "nothing for her loyalty".

But Morgan responded: "I do not jump up in the middle of a cabinet meeting to respond to issues in Westminster."

Morgan later criticised opposition leaders for treating the office of the first minister "like a pundit's chair".

"You are not in the BBC any longer Rhun," she told ap Iorwerth, a former political journalist. "This is a Senedd. It is not a studio."

After the exchange, Millar accused the first minister's support of the prime minister of being "vague and mealy-mouthed".

Reform UK leader Dan Thomas said: "The first minister has shown she is a follower, not a leader."

Morgan previously refused to say whether she supported the prime minister when asked in two separate BBC interviews.

Anas Sarwar's call for Sir Keir to resign sparked speculation among some in Westminster that Morgan would so the same.

Sources told BBC Wales on Monday that this would not be the case, in part because of the support Sir Keir has among Welsh MPs, most of whom are also part of the UK government.

Morgan faces a Senedd election on 7 May, with opinion polls suggesting Labour could lose the Welsh government for the first time.

By Gareth Lewis, BBC Wales political editor

With the political temperature high, Eluned Morgan's support for Sir Keir could be described as lukewarm.

There are serious caveats in what she says including an implication that failures in the appointment of Lord Mandelson have not been fully confronted.

Yet her "ultimate" test is whether the prime minister delivers for Wales – might opposition parties pick up on that potential contradiction later on Tuesday in first minister's questions?

Is that more important than the Mandelson scandal, and does she think he is delivering?

This is the third time in as many weeks that Morgan has not given Sir Keir her full-throated support, but the situation this time is far more serious given events on Monday, with that Senedd election now less than three months away.

In February, BBC Wales is holding a live debate in Aberystwyth with a panel of politicians ahead of the Senedd election. Click below to apply to be in the audience.