Welsh Labour leadership: Drakeford no 'personal ambition' to be FM

Mark Drakeford says he will not relish First Minister's Questions if he is Welsh Labour leader

The front runner in the Welsh Labour leadership race has said he is not relishing being in the spotlight if he becomes first minister.

Finance Secretary Mark Drakeford said if he wins he will not look forward to question time in the assembly or media interviews that are part of the job.

He told BBC Wales he was a "hesitant" candidate at first, but was campaigning "whole heartedly" and "flat out".

Mr Drakeford is standing against Vaughan Gething and Eluned Morgan.

Party members will start receiving ballot papers on 9 November, with the result due on 6 December.

• Welsh Labour leadership contest underway

• Most Labour AMs back Drakeford for leader

Before succeeding him as the AM for Cardiff West, Mr Drakeford was an adviser to Rhodri Morgan when he was first minister.

"I was a hesitant candidate before declaring, in the sense that I have no great personal ambition to be first minister," Mr Drakeford told BBC Wales Today.

But he entered the race because of "a belief that people in the Labour Party deserve to have a political choice, that they deserve to have a candidate in the race who represented a particular strand in the Labour Party in Wales".

He added: "There are parts of the job which I know I will enjoy very much, but having worked for 10 years in Rhodri Morgan's office I know there are parts of the job that, you know, I won't look forward to as well.

"I don't think I will look forward to doing first minister's questions particularly. I don't particularly like that sort of bear garden atmosphere or way of doing politics.

"I don't look forward to doing media interviews. I think some people are fine with them. Me, I'm always nervous before I do them and so on."