Wales' first minister refuses to support Keir Starmer

Wales' first minister has refused to give her support to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, telling the BBC the leader of the Labour party is "not on the ballot" at her country's elections in May.

Instead, Welsh Labour leader Morgan said the Senedd election was not a time for the public in Wales to protest against the UK government.

The UK government was asked for comment.

Asked on Radio 4's Today programme on Wednesday if she thought Sir Keir is a good prime minister, Morgan said: "What I'm saying to the people of Wales is that he's not on the ballot paper. That is not what people will be voting for in May."

Asked again, she added: "This is not an... opportunity for a free hit against the UK government. This is not a time for protest votes.

"The things that matter here is who is going to deliver those services that people rely on in Wales.

"They'll have a choice between the chaos Reform will offer, [or] the pipe dreams that Plaid will offer, which will be a road to independence."

Last week Morgan said Sir Keir was only welcome to campaign with her in Wales if he brought "goodies", like announcements of new projects.

In the interview Morgan also suggested that voters were not interested in whether Wales's parliament, the Senedd, should take control of policing in Wales - days after she made the request herself in a speech in London.

The Welsh government's long-standing policy idea was firmly ruled out by UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood on Monday.

When it was put to her that Westminster showed no interest in the request, Morgan said: "I think what people in Wales are concerned with are the bread and butter issues in their daily lives."

Asked if it was now a dead issue, she added: "We've been consistent in our ask in relation to policing, not under the Labour government, but prior to that under the Tory government.

"I think in May what people are interested in is looking to the future, that next chapter where we will be growing the economy of Wales."

In a separate interview with BBC Wales on Tuesday evening, Morgan repeatedly refused to directly answer questions about the home secretary's remarks, or whether she would be able to persuade her Westminster colleagues to give her what she wanted.

Asked whether Mahmood's response was a kick in the teeth, Morgan said she had made her position on the devolution of policing "clear" in her speech.

Morgan had called for a host of devolution changes in her speech at Institute for Government, calling on Westminster colleagues to help prevent a pro-independence majority at the Senedd election.

The Welsh Conservative leader in the Senedd, Darren Millar, accused Morgan of setting up the scaffolding for an independent Wales, and trying to our nationalist the nationalists.

Plaid Cymru had accused Morgan of being "powerless".

A Reform UK Wales spokesperson said: "Labour and Plaid want to spend the whole election talking about the constitution. This is the kind of trivial distraction that has led to soaring NHS waiting lists and plummeting educational outcomes here in Wales."