Mark Drakeford called 'low energy Jeremy Corbyn', as Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak come to Cardiff
ITV Cymru Wales Political Editor Adrian Masters was at the hustings in Cardiff on Wednesday evening
Conservative Party leadership candidate Liz Truss has described First Minister Mark Drakeford as a “low energy version of Jeremy Corbyn”, at a hustings event held in Cardiff.
It comes after she said Scottish First Minister Ms Sturgeon was an “attention seeker” who is “best ignored” at a hustings event in Exeter on Monday.
Both her and rival to become the new Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, criticised the Labour Welsh Government.
Mr Sunak said he thinks his party needs "to be more prepared to call out the failures" of Mark Drakeford's Government.
During the event in the Welsh capital, Ms Truss said: “The fact is there are too many people in this country who are ashamed of our history, who talk our country down, who say the best days are behind us.
"They are completely wrong. I’m afraid one of them is Mark Drakeford."
Ms Truss also backed building the M4 relief road - a three-lane motorway south of Newport that was proposed to relieve congestion.
Mr Drakeford previously said his Cabinet had decided not to back the project due to demands on the Welsh Government’s budgets and its financial position, saying the cost involved “was not acceptable”.
Referring to his decision in 2019 to scrap the M4 relief road, Ms Truss added: “Whether it’s stopping the M4 relief road, whether it’s whacking a tax on our tourist industry, I will crack down on his negativity about Wales and about the United Kingdom.
“With delivering for people on the ground, with making a real difference to people’s lives, we will be able to take on the plastic patriot Sir Keir Starmer and we’ll be able to take on the low energy version of Jeremy Corbyn that is Mark Drakeford.”
Mr Sunak also leveled criticism at the way the Welsh Labour Party has governed public services while in office.
"I just see a country that has enormous potential," the former Chancellor of the Exchequer said.
"I want to help work with everyone here to deliver that and actually make sure that people in Wales get the public services that they deserve.
"And that's where we need to be more prepared to call out the failures of the devolved government here, because this path of onward devolution has not worked in actually delivering better health care and education for people here in Wales - and that's what we've go to fix."
Protesters gathered outside the All Nations Centre in Cardiff where the hustings were held on Wednesday evening. Noise from the crowd outside was loud enough at some moments that it could be heard inside the hustings hall.
Protesters held signs criticising the UK Government's controversial Rwanda policy.
A woman dressed in a short blonde wig and matching blue skirt and jacket held a sign referring to cuts to nurses' and teachers' pay.
Ms Truss had initially planned to pay public sector workers in cheaper regions less than their counterparts in London and the south-east, but went on to abandon the policy a little over 12 hours after making the announcement.
Her campaign claimed there had been “wilful misrepresentation” of the proposal but made clear they would be dropping it and instead maintaining current levels of pay for nurses, police officers and teachers.
Conservative party members will decide which of the two candidates will lead their party and become the UK's new Prime Minister. However balloting has been delayed due to security concerns.
Ballots were due to be sent out on Monday 1 August but now could arrive with members as later as Thursday 11 August.
The latest poll, a Conservative Home survey on Wednesday (3 August), puts Ms Truss on 58% with Mr Sunak down on 26%.
A recent YouGov poll had an even bigger gap between the two - attributing the foreign secretary with a 38 point lead over the former chancellor.