WELSH Labour leadership contender Jeremy Miles pledged immediate action on the economy and the NHS, and ministerial equality for women if he is elected.

Setting out a plan yesterday for his first week in office, Mr Miles, presently Education Minister in Cardiff, also committed to a review of the controversial 20mph speed limit on Wales’s roads.

Other promises for the first seven days included appointing a government team where at least half of all ministers are women and setting up a new national economic council to advise on developing “prosperity and solidarity.”

There will also be urgent discussions with health unions and others about easing pressures on the NHS and setting up a new delivery unit to review all the government’s work “with an absolutely relentless focus on practical delivery.”

Mr Miles pledged “a government that reflects our communities, is relentless in protecting and improving public services, and is open to scrutiny and constructive criticism.”

He is supported by more than half the Labour members of the Senedd in the election, which ends in March.

The winner will succeed Mark Drakeford, who has announced his retirement, as First Minister in Wales.

The other declared candidate is Economy Minister Vaughan Gething, who is more identified with the right of the party.