Mr Alun Michael faces an uphill struggle to establish his authority, having claimed the leadership of the Welsh Labour Party despite nearly 65 per cent backing by ordinary party members for his opponent, Mr Rhodri Morgan.
In an effort to consolidate his victory in Saturday's leadership contest, Mr Michael yesterday finally signalled his intention to vacate his Westminster seat at the next general election. "I see my future in Wales," he told the BBC's Breakfast with Frost." Pressed if that meant he would leave Westminster, he replied: "I think that is the inevitable conclusion of the decision I took last year."
Until his appointment to replace Mr Ron Davies as Welsh Secretary last October, Mr Michael had not intended to seek election to the Welsh Assembly.
The result of the three-part electoral college announced in Cardiff on Saturday gave Mr Michael 52.68 per cent of the total vote, against 47.32 per cent for Mr Morgan - a bare margin of 5 per cent. However, the ballot of the party's 25,000 members showed overwhelming grassroots support for the ebullient Mr Morgan at 64.35 per cent to 35.65 per cent for Mr Michael.
And Mr Michael's victory on the back of trade union block votes was instantly ridiculed by the Conservatives and Scots and Welsh nationalists; provoked renewed charges of "control freakery" and demands for party reform; and prompted a clear warning that the leadership issue could be reopened in the aftermath of the May 6th elections for the 60-member Welsh Assembly.
The Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, congratulated Mr Michael and called on the party to unite behind him. "He won because he is the best person for the job, and he will do it well," said a plainly relieved Mr Blair, after a bitter three-month campaign which has again seen his commitment to devolution contrasted with a clear reluctance to leave decision-making to local Labour parties.
But even as Mr Michael contemplated a possible role for his defeated rival in the new Welsh executive, Mr Morgan - twice defeated for the top post - gave a clear indication that he has not yet abandoned hope of leading his party in the Assembly.
While his campaign manager, Mr Kevin Brennan, suggested Mr Morgan could play a significant role in the Assembly and would not be a thorn in Mr Michael's side, the defeated candidate himself quipped: "I have to hold myself in reserve in case Alun doesn't get elected on May 6th."
Mr Michael - parachuted into the Welsh Secretary's job after Mr Davies' "moment of madness" on Clapham Common - is not seeking election in a constituency contest, but hopes to enter the Assembly courtesy of the party "top-up" list provided by the proportional representation system.
The possibility that the elected Assembly members might actually overturn Saturday's leadership result was first floated on BBC's Newsnight last Thursday by the Labour MP, Mr Paul Flynn. And on Saturday he led withering criticism of the electoral college which had given victory to Mr Blair's man, describing the result as "in the best traditions of North Korea".
Mr Michael carried the contest without winning any of the one-member, one-vote ballots held along the way to Saturday's announcement. And Labour MP Mrs Ann Clwyd joined the criticism of trade unions which had failed to ballot their members before committing their block votes to Mr Michael.
Calling for a re-examination of the rules, she said: "That certainly was not the system that I supported some years ago.".
Mr Michael gained the edge in the final stages of the battle on Friday when the powerful GMB union delivered its vote - worth some 6.2 per cent of the total - after a "consultation" with members at branch level.
Mr Morgan's wife Julie, visibly upset by the result, said: "This is a desperately disappointing day for the ordinary members of the party who are so obviously committed to Rhodri. I'm extremely disappointed for their sake. This party has got to change".
And political rivals sought to exploit the Labour leadership's embarrassment at reliance on tactics and procedures more akin to Old Labour than to New.
The Plaid Cymru leader, Mr Dafydd Wigley, said the result had exposed "the enormous gulf" between Labour's grassroots and the leadership in London: "This election shows how out of sympathy the Prime Minister is with the spirit of devolution. Tony Blair has succeeded in imposing his man on an unwilling Wales." The Scottish National Party chief executive, Mr Michael Russell, said "control freakery" had won the day in Wales: "Labour are determined to control the Welsh Assembly and the Scottish Parliament and if that means imposing candidates, then so be it.".
And the Tory leader, Mr William Hague, said the result was a blow to local democracy: "The grassroots voted for Rhodri Morgan. Tony Blair has said he wants a Welsh Assembly but is saying he wants a say as to who is in it and what it does".
Mr Michael refused to speculate on any job offer for Mr Morgan, insisting "the dust should be allowed to settle". But in a defiant victory speech he warned the new Assembly should provide proper devolved government rather than mere "administrative tweaking," and vowed to continue to fight for an Assembly free of sleaze, patronage and "machine politics".
However, Labour's internal row over "machine politics" seems set to continue in Wales and in London, where the left-wing MP, Mr Ken Livingstone, last week launched a public campaign to win the right to seek Labour's nomination for next year's elections for London Mayor.
There is continuing bitterness over London "interference" in the selection of candidates in Scotland too, where the latest opinion poll suggests Labour's lead over the SNP has been halved. If repeated on polling day, Labour's five-point lead would leave the party without an overall majority in the new Scottish Parliament.