It was the job he always wanted - and Rhodri Morgan will have it for a long weekend at least.

And next week he is almost certain to succeed in his ambition of becoming first secretary in the Welsh assembly.

The MP, who has been thwarted twice in the past in his ambition of leading Labour in Wales, has been made acting-first secretary as part of an interim arrangement while the chaos brought about by Alun Michael's resignation is addressed.

Mr Morgan was quickly approved in the post by the Welsh Cabinet, the Labour group on the assembly and the party's Welsh executive in a series of meetings arranged hurriedly on Wednesday night.

He has also been nominated by the party executive and the assembly's Labour group to be Labour's next leader in Wales.

The next important meeting will be held on Friday night when the executive meets with the Labour group to formally nominate a candidate to replace Mr Michael as first secretary.

Emergency procedures

Barring another dramatic twist, that will almost certainly be Mr Morgan.

Using emergency procedures, Labour will nominate its candidate without going through a full-scale poll among the party.

Then an election in the Welsh assembly itself is likely to be held next Tuesday to decide on the new first secretary, and it is unlikely Mr Morgan will be opposed.

Plaid Cymru leader Dafydd Wigley has already said his party would support his election and co-operate with him once he is installed.

The MP and Assembly member for Cardiff West was elected to Parliament in 1987 and became a shadow spokesman on energy and Welsh affairs.

Two defeats

But after Tony Blair failed to appoint him to the government following the general election in 1997, he became the first Welsh MP to announce he would seek election to the Welsh Assembly.

In 1998, he lost in challenging the then Welsh Secretary Ron Davies for the right to lead Labour into the Welsh Assembly elections.

And when Mr Davies resigned from the Welsh Office and as leader of the party in Wales following "a moment of madness" on Clapham Common in London, Mr Morgan again tried to win the post.

But despite a much closer battle than that with Mr Davies, in which Mr Morgan was a clear favourite among grassroots Labour supporters and amid accusations of a rigged vote, an electoral college just chose Mr Michael to head the party in the assembly elections.

After his defeat, Mr Morgan appealed for party unity and was rewarded with a top job in the assembly, the post of economic development secretary.

When once asked if would like to be first secretary, Mr Morgan said: "Do one-legged ducks swim in circles?"

His ambition now seems to be coming to fruition.