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Welsh Tory leader Andrew RT Davies says his party will not stand in the way of Carwyn Jones’ re-election as First Minister after they failed to strike a deal with Plaid Cymru.

Speaking on the BBC’s Sunday Politics programme Mr Davies insisted there is no log-jam at the Assembly because his party would not back Plaid leader Leanne Wood in a second vote on the role of First Minister.

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He said: “I fail to see why people think there’s a log-jam in the system.

“Because ultimately if the nomination comes forward, certainly we believe Wales would be better off with a different First Minister, but ultimately there isn’t an offer on the table, and, therefore, we would do what we do at most occasions like this and we’d abstain.”

In the first vote last week the 11-strong Tory group voted with Plaid and Ukip AMs to see Ms Wood tied on 29 votes with Mr Jones.

Locked in negotiations

Plaid and Labour, who with 29 seats are two short of an overall majority, have since been locked in negotiations in a bid to find a way forward before a second vote takes place this week.

But analysts maintain the result of the election has fundamentally changed the relationship between Labour and Plaid, with the nationalists now holding far more clout.

Read more:These are the new Welsh AMs

Laura McAllister, professor of governance at the University of Liverpool, added: “There is no doubt that this was a real game-changer and the fact that it caught Labour off guard and on the back foot tells one that Plaid is going to pursue very different tactics this term.

“In the medium to longer term, both parties might benefit from a recasting of their relationship.”

Disquiet among Labour AMs

The toing and froing at the Assembly is thought to have caused disquiet among some backbench Labour AMs who are unhappy that Plaid took the presiding officer’s chair – in the form of Ceredigion AM Elin Jones – and then put forward Ms Wood as First Minister.

And Prof McAllister said what had happened was an indication of “the new thrusting, muscular approach from a new team of [Plaid] AMs less naturally consensual in style and keener to stake out the party’s political position in the new landscape”.

She added: “I think overall the move will be seen as being a valuable one for Plaid from a strategic and tactical point of view.

“However, I suspect the actual goal was not sufficiently crystallised for Plaid, which was a mistake – although the party might still emerge stronger from the episode as Labour’s attempt to smear Leanne Wood and Plaid by pointing to Ukip and Conservative support for her nomination was undermined by later suggestions that [Ukip AMs] Mark Reckless and Nathan Gill could support Carwyn Jones in a second vote.”

"Overshadow next five years"

Daran Hill, founder of political consultancy Positif Politics, said the events of the last week will characterise and overshadow much of the next five years.

He said the Conservatives, which lost three seats to slip behind Plaid in the election, had made the correct call to back Ms Wood for First Minister – but failed to capitalise on it.

We asked voters in Rhondda what they think of Leanne Wood now:

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Mr Hill said the Tories should have been quicker to say they would abstain in a second vote.

“They made the right decision politically to back Leanne Wood, no matter how hard it was to utter that name, but quite soon afterwards they should have indicated they would not do the same the following week,” he said.

Promising to abstain on a future vote – effectively allowing Mr Jones to be re-appointed – could have won them some concessions.

Instead, Mr Hill said, they “handed to Plaid the opportunity to negotiate with Labour”.