BLAENAU Gwent AM Alun Davies has launched his Welsh Labour leadership campaign saying that the Welsh Labour party needs a new 'Bevanism' for the 21st century.

The AM hopes to succeed Carwyn Jones and become Welsh Labour leader and First Minister.

Mr Davies does not yet have sufficient support from his peers to reach the ballot paper.

Mr Jones’s announcement that he is stepping down as First Minister means a replacement must be found by autumn.

Candidates need nominations from five other AMs to get on the ballot paper, and so far finance secretary Mark Drakeford and Vaughan Gething, cabinet secretary for health and social services, are the only candidates to secure this number.

Huw Irranca-Davies, minister for children, older people and social care, and Eluned Morgan, minister for Welsh language and lifelong learning both hope to join them.

Addressing his leadership bid, Mr Davies said: "We need to rediscover the spirit of Nye Bevan and reinvent a new 'Bevanism' for the 21st century.

“Fundamentally I believe that our politics is broken and that our democracy is facing a real existential crisis.

“I believe that democratic government in Wales is facing a real crisis of confidence and one which may even lead to a crisis of legitimacy unless it is urgently addressed.

“To me leadership is plural and not singular. It is a verb and not a noun.

“I did not begin by seeking support for this campaign. I sought to promote a wider debate and discussion about the future of our politics.

“But it is clear to me now that our debate is far too limited and far too narrow.

“It is not addressing those issues that will dominate and shape the political landscape in the coming years. I am therefore seeking support for a different approach and a different sort of leadership campaign.

“And this is not about incremental or gradual change or a difference in emphasis. It is about asking hard and sometimes uncomfortable questions. I do not seek easy slogans or lazy populism - telling people what I think they want to hear - this is a radical campaign which is about challenging ourselves so that we are better able to serve and to reinvent ourselves for new challenges in the future.

“We have succeeded in defending Wales from the worst of Tory austerity and we have created a Welsh politics unthinkable two generations ago.

“But to sit back and point at our record is the worst possible response to the political, social and economic change that we are witnessing today.

“Today is the beginning of trying to find those answers. I do not believe that I possess all those answers but I do believe that by asking these hard questions and by making radical and challenging proposals for change that we begin the process of political change and political renewal.

“I am standing in this election to have that debate.

“My priority in this campaign is to make the case for a change to our politics and change to the way in which we govern our country. And this will be rooted in my values of democracy and equality.”