Carwyn Jones, Wales’ new First Minister, has dropped two people from his first cabinet and brought in two new faces to spice up his team ahead of a general election battle with Plaid Cymru, Labour’s coalition partners in the Welsh Assembly, and the Conservatives.
In come Huw Lewis, one of the defeated Labour leadership candidates, who becomes Deputy Minister for Children, and Leighton Andrews, as Minister for Children, Education and Lifelong Learning, who ran Mr Jones’ successful leadership campaign. Edwina Hart, the other unsuccessful leadership candidate, stays at health and social services, but out go Andrew Davies (finance) and Brian Gibbons (social justice).
Mr Jones said he wanted to assemble the best blend of talent: “You don’t look to reward people for anything they have done in the past and that’s what I’ve done with this cabinet – brought together people who can offer a great deal, bring a lot to the table in terms of government.”
