Carwyn Jones to step down as first minister of Wales

The first minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones, will stand down in the autumn.

He made the surprise announcement at the Welsh Labour party conference in Llandudno on Saturday.

Jones’s decision means Wales will have a new first minister at the start of December.

He became first minister and leader of the Labour party in Wales in December 2009 – a decade after he was first elected to the Welsh assembly.

The Welsh Labour leader had been under significant pressure since Carl Sargeant was found dead in early November, four days after being sacked as a minister over harassment allegations.

This week, opposition parties in Wales criticised the Labour-led government for blocking the full publication of a report examining claims that Sargeant’s dismissal was leaked in the days before he killed himself.

The Welsh Tories claimed during an assembly debate that it was morally wrong for the report not to be published.

Jones’s decision to stand down comes a day after lawyers for Jack Sargeant, Carl’s son, wrote a strongly worded letter accusing him of causing considerable distress.

An inquiry into how Jones handled the sacking has not yet begun.

The letter said: “The inescapable fact here is that someone sadly lost their life, a much-loved family member, and due process must be followed expeditiously to enable those closest to him to find some closure.”

Sargeant’s lawyer, Neil Hudgell 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.”

When asked about the accusation his manner had caused distress, Jones said: “I can’t see how that can be the case.”

In his speech on Saturday, the first minister paid tribute to his wife, Lisa, and their children, and thanked them for their support. “There are people I haven’t been fair to in recent times, and that’s my family,” he said.

“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.”

Jones told the Welsh Labour conference he was “incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved together so far”.

Earlier on Saturday, Swansea East MP Carolyn Harris was elected as the party’s first deputy leader.

Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood congratulated Jones on his nine years as first minister but said Wales not only needed a new leader but a new government. “Wales can and must be better than this – rearranging the deckchairs will not deliver the change we need,” she said.