Plaid Cymru's Rhun ap Iorwerth becomes Wales' first minister

Rhun ap Iorwerth has called becoming Welsh first minister "the greatest privilege of my life", and says Plaid Cymru's election victory shows "something has stirred in the soul of Wales".

The Plaid leader was elected in a roll call of Members of the Senedd (MSs) at the Senedd's first meeting since his party's historic election victory last week.

Ap Iorwerth, the first non-Labour head of the Welsh government, said he was "eager to repay the trust that the people in Wales have placed in us".

Reform's Welsh leader Dan Thomas said his party would be a "robust opposition" that would hold Plaid to account.

In a speech to the Senedd after he won the vote for first minister on Tuesday, ap Iorwerth said: "Something has stirred in the soul of Wales.

"A new confidence, a new hope. A new broader horizon, never to be narrowed again.

"From this historic moment onwards every person in every part of our nation can know that the government of Wales is their government."

Ap Iorwerth promised his government would be there to "serve everyone in every community, urban and rural, old and young, whether they speak Welsh or do not".

"Where there is common ground, we will make every effort to find it," he said.

"And where unfairness and injustice threaten the fabric of our nation, we will turn that mission of kindness and tolerance into support for those who need it most."

He paid tribute to former Labour first minister Eluned Morgan, saying she "steered her government with enthusiasm and with pride".

Morgan lost her seat in last week's election, as Plaid Cymru became the largest party in Cardiff Bay, winning 43 of the 96 seats.

Reform came second with 34 seats, forming the largest opposition group.

Labour shrank from 29 seats before the election, in the old 60-member chamber, to just nine seats now, and the Conservatives dropped from 13 to seven.

The Greens picked up their first two Senedd seats and the Liberal Democrats still have just one member in the chamber, as they have since 2016.

Reform's Dan Thomas congratulated ap Iorwerth and thanked his party's Senedd members for endorsing his leadership at a group meeting on Monday.

"I wish the government well in its efforts to reduce NHS waiting lists, to improve education results, and in creating the right environment for the economy to grow and for job creation, because Wales badly needs it," he said.

He promised the Reform group would be a "robust opposition" to hold Plaid "to account" and a voice for the "left-behind communities that have voted for us".

"We represent all people across all of Wales - we all do all we can to break up the cosy consensus that has presided over 27 years of managed decline in this country."