 In the run-up to the elections, the party's nominee for First Secretary, Ron Davies had been forced to resign amid an alleged sex scandal.His replacement, Alun Michael, the new Secretary of State for Wales, was seen as a reluctant participant despite also having a longstanding commitment to Welsh devolution, and was widely seen as being the choice of the UK leadership of the Labour Party.Labour won 28 of the 60 seats (20 being allocated via the Additional Member System) on 37 per cent of the vote and a month later came within two and a half percentage points of being pushed into second place for popular share by Plaid Cymru in elections to the European Parliament.