Rhodri Morgan has pledged to support Tony Blair's leadership as he takes over as acting first secretary of the Welsh National Assembly, after the resignation of Alun Michael.

Mr Michael, who also resigned as leader of the Labour Party in Wales, surprised almost everyone - including the Prime Minister Tony Blair - by quitting shortly before a vote of no confidence.

The motion of no confidence was proposed by Plaid Cymru, which criticised Mr Michael for failing to get Whitehall to match £1.2bn in European funding for poorer areas.

It was carried on Wednesday by 31 votes to 27, with only Labour AM Alison Halford abstaining.

Mr Morgan is expected to be confirmed as Mr Michael's replacement by the Assembly next week.

Mr Michael's resignation comes as a major embarrassment to Mr Blair, who was criticised by several people in the Welsh Labour Party for "foisting" Mr Michael on them instead of Mr Morgan.

Mr Morgan, a maverick left-winger, was seen as being too difficult to control.

But Downing Street now seems to have accepted Mr Morgan will succeed Mr Michael.

Mr Michael denied he had been cast as Mr Blair's "poodle" and said: "This was not about me, but I felt that I needed to step aside in the interests of the Labour Party and of Wales."

'Deserves a chance'

Mr Morgan's chances of becoming the Assembly's First Secretary have been boosted by support from Plaid Cymru leader Dafydd Wigley.

Mr Wigley told BBC Radio Four's The World Tonight: "We certainly wouldn't vote against him.

"He deserves the chance to put his ideas forward and to show the direction in which he is going to lead the Assembly."

Speaking on BBC Two's Newsnight programme, Mr Morgan hinted he might seek a coalition deal with the Liberal Democrats to prevent a repeat of the no-confidence motion.

"The solution to the political instability problem is top of the agenda. We have got proportional representation and the high likelihood of having minority governments, and if Labour is the largest party but it doesn't have a majority, what can you do?"

Rhodri Morgan, a popular MP and AM for Cardiff West, was narrowly defeated by Mr Michael in February last year in a vote to be Labour Assembly leader.

Block votes

Mr Michael was Prime Minister Tony Blair's preferred candidate for the job, while Rhodri Morgan had the backing of the majority of grassroots Labour members.

Mr Michael's narrow win was only secured thanks to the use of union block votes in his favour.

That left him open to a Plaid Cymru taunt that he was "Blair's poodle", while Rhodri Morgan, by contrast, was seen as the people's choice for Labour's top job in Wales.

If Mr Morgan were to be confirmed as Labour's leader in the Assembly, it would mean that the man Tony Blair tried to stop becoming first secretary will have finally landed the job.