Sargeant on parade – last two Cabinet members back Carwyn

The Chief Whip has spoken - Carl Sargeant joins Brian Gibbons in backing Carwyn Jones

The closing point at which all Assembly Members will have had their chance to nominate one of their colleagues to stand as leader of the Welsh Labour group in the Assembly – and de facto Leader of Welsh Labour – arrives at midday today.

It is the first big milestone of the campaign and it is no surprise that Carwyn Jones’ slick operation today unveils the support of the two remaining AMs who had not declared a preference. And they are two big names within the group.

Both Dr Brian Gibbons, the personable Social Justice and Local Government Minister and Aberavon AM, and Carl Sargeant, the ebullient Chief Whip and Alyn and Deeside representative, have lent their weight to the campaign. And Carl’s a big fella (which we hope he won’t mind us saying…)

Their support is a counter-blast to Jane Hutt’s endorsement of Edwina Hart last Friday. Carwyn has, albeit narrowly, won the battle for the backing of his fellow ministers, deputy ministers or Cabinet members and can count on Carl, Brian and Jane Davidson from the Cabinet as well as two of the three deputy ministers, Leighton Andrews and John Griffiths. This bring his total number of AM supporters to nine.

Edwina Hart has the nomination of 10 AMs and these include two Cabinet colleagues, Jane and Andrew Davies , as well as deputy minister Gwenda Thomas. She thanks her supporters in her latest weblog post on her site. Huw Lewis has not gained the support of any Welsh Assembly Government ministers. But, to be fair, his campaign probably never expected to. His final tally of AMs is six.

The Carwyn camp has clearly come out fighting this morning, determined to dominate the second week of campaigning. This was exactly the sort of bold move they needed to respond to Friday’s endorsement of Edwina by the Education Minister. In a hard hitting press statement, there are three quotes that really stand out.

Brian offers fulsome praise but also stresses the all-Wales message which Carwyn’s backers are keen to emphasise: “The Party is ‘in his blood’ and that’s why – from Aberavon to Amlwch – he is the person who can reach out to the membership right across Wales. At a time when we need to build a unified party with a coherent message and to broaden our appeal across Wales, Carwyn stands out as the only candidate that can deliver.” Expect this all-Wales angle to be emphasised again and again in coming weeks.

Secondly, and perhaps most curiously, is a rather astonishing statement from Carl: “I want to put on the record that Carwyn was the only candidate to ask me for my support. He took the time to explain what he stands for and the direction he want to take the party and the country.” What does that tell us about the ways in which campaigns are really reaching out to their electors? The Chief Whip has the same vote as every other AM or MP – and big clout, too (metaphorically speaking, of course).

And finally, Leighton Andrews, the campaign manager, gives the clearest signal yet of Carwyn’s support among Members of Parliament when he declares: “We are also quietly confident that Carwyn will receive the backing of an overall majority of Welsh Labour MPs”.

That’s a bold statement to make if it can’t be substantiated. And Leighton Andrews isn’t the type of campaigner who takes risks. This week has started a lot better for Team Carwyn than last week ended.