A mid Wales politician has announced her intention to stand as the next Welsh Labour leader and become First Minister of Wales.

Eluned Morgan, who is currently the minister for the Welsh language and lifelong learning, has declared herself as the "change" candidate as she only entered the Assembly, where Labour has held power since it was established in 1999, at the last elections in 2016.

If elected she would also become the first female to serve as First Minister of Wales.

Cabinet members Mark Drakeford and health minister Vaughan Gething, are the only other candidates to have declared their intention to stand for the leadership, though only finance secretary Drakeford has so far secured enough nominations from Labour AMs to run.

Ms Morgan, who represents the Mid and West Wales region that includes all of Powys, also sits in the House of Lords, as Baroness Morgan, and from 1994 to 2009 was a Member of the European Parliament, first for the Mid and West Wales region and then for all of Wales after the constituencies were re-drawn.

She said: "Labour has been in power in Wales since the Assembly was established back in 1999; I believe that I would be the candidate to represent change in this election. I am a relatively new member of the National Assembly, but I have decades of broader political experience having represented Wales in the European Parliament for 15 years and served on the front benches in the House of Lords.

"The party needs to focus unrelentingly on tackling poverty in Wales, and the way to do that is to grow the economy and provide quality jobs and training. The fall-out from Brexit will be the dominating issue for at least the next five years in Wales, and I feel that my 15 years’ experience as a Welsh MEP in Brussels has taught me how to negotiate difficult and conflicting positions."

A spokesman for Ms Morgan said she is "engaging with AMs on her manifesto ideas, seeking support" when asked if she had already secured the sufficient five nominations from the Labour group in the Assembly.

Mr Drakeford is considered the favourite as he is aligned to UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and is expected to benefit from the support of individual party members and the Welsh branch of the Momentum campaign group, Welsh Labour Grassroots.

Welsh Labouur has previously used an electoral college system to elect it leaders, with the votes of AMs and MPs being more valuable than those of ordinary members. UK Labour ditched the system in favour of one member one vote which helped Mr Corbyn win the leadership, breaking the stranglehold of party managers and MPs. Trade unions account for one third of the electoral college.

Ms Morgan said she supports the introduction of one member one vote for the Welsh leadership. Debate over the vote system has intensified since Carolyn Harris MP beat Julie Morgan to the party leadership, even though more members voted for the AM.

Ms Morgan said: "Whilst the form of the voting system must be a decision for the Labour Party in Wales, I feel that we need to move to a one member one vote system; although we must find a way of ensuring that the politically affiliated union voice is heard within that system.

"It would be a tragedy if the leadership election did not move beyond a debate of the mechanics of an internal voting system; Wales is confronting serious future challenges and we need to position ourselves to be a highly skilled and responsive economy with strong public services which takes account of the needs of the environment and future generations."

First Minister Carwyn Jones, announced his intention to stand down at April’s Welsh Labour conference, but he will remain in post until December. A special conference in September will decided whether the party’s voting system should be changed.