2000 Welsh Labour leadership election

The 2000 Labour Party in Wales leadership election was held on 11 February 2000 after the resignation of Alun Michael as first secretary of Wales and leader of the Labour Party in Wales on 9 February 2000. Rhodri Morgan, who had unsuccessfully challenged Michael in the previous leadership election in 1999, was elected unopposed as the new leader of the party in the National Assembly for Wales and was later nominated unopposed by the assembly as the new first secretary on 15 February.

Michael had become the leader of the Labour Party in Wales in 1998, when he was appointed as its acting leader after the resignation of his predecessor Ron Davies. A centrist Blairite, he defeated the soft left MP Rhodri Morgan in a leadership contest in 1999 and was elected leader. Both men were elected to the National Assembly for Wales at the first assembly election in 1999, with Michael becoming the first-ever first secretary of Wales as Labour's leader in the new legislature, which had won the most seats at the election and formed a minority administration in the assembly.

A few months into his premiership, Michael's administration faced a political and constitutional crisis. The opposition parties in the assembly joined forces to outnumber Michael's party in votes, leading to a political deadlock in the assembly. In February 2000, they used their joint numbers to pass a motion of no confidence in Michael as first secretary, which would mandate his resignation under the standing orders of the assembly. Michael resigned as both first secretary and Labour leader and Rhodri Morgan was elected unopposed at a meeting of the party's Welsh executive and assembly group to succeed him.
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