23.04.18
Welsh first minister Carwyn Jones to step down
The first minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones, announced on Saturday at the Welsh Labour party conference that he will step down from his position.
He will stand down in the autumn so that a new first minister can be selected by the end of the year.
The Welsh Labour leader had been under pressure after the death of Carl Sargeant, who was found dead four days after being sacked for harassment allegations.
Opposition parties criticised Labour for not publishing the report examining the days leading up to Sargeant’s death.
Jack Sargeant’s [Carl’s son] lawyer told BBC Wales: “It’s a culmination of a series of frustrations over the delay to the start of the inquiry. Our thoughts very much are that it’s been dehumanised within the first minister’s office: there’s some game-playing going on and some deliberate stalling tactics.”
Jones said, at the Labour conference: “There are people I haven’t been fair to in recent times, and that’s my family.
“In any normal political career you expect to be put through the wringer and have your everything challenged. I don’t think anyone can know what these last few months have been like, other than Lisa and the kids. They have helped me through the darkest of times. I have asked too much of them at times and it’s time for me think about what’s fair to them.”
Jeremy Corbyn thanked Jones for his “tireless” and swept aside the idea that he is quitting under the cloud of Carl Sageant’s death.
Image: Kirsty O'Connor/PA Wire/PA Images