Labour federal structure call by minister after defeat

Leighton Andrews agrees Labour needs a distinct identity in England

A Welsh Labour minister has called for the party to adopt a federal structure following its general election defeat.

The party is choosing a new UK leader after the resignation of Ed Miliband.

But Public Services Minister Leighton Andrews tweeted on Monday night: "I really don't care who English Labour choose #federallabournow."

He argued in a 2013 lecture that Labour was already "de facto" a federal party, with separate leaders in Wales and Scotland.

In an article for the Guardian last week, the Rhondda AM wrote: "Just what, after 7 May, does British Labour amount to?

"No one could have done more than Jim Murphy to raise Labour's fortunes in Scotland, but we were cuffed resoundingly there. In southern England outside London we barely have a seat, and in northern England, UKIP is eyeing up its chances.

"As [former cabinet minister] John Denham has argued, Labour in England needs its own identity.

"Is there space for a three-nations Labour in a federal British party? Time will tell."