Minister looks back on Mid Wales achievements

Labour's Mr Jones, who has been the First Minister in Wales since 2009, last month announced his intention to stand down from the role, to give his country and the party a 'fresh start'.

On Wednesday, the politician visited Welshpool suspension systems manufacturer Zip Clip to look around a new £375,000 government funded unit.

During his visit, he spoke about some of the stand out achievements in Mid Wales during his time as First Minister and cited the roll out superfast broad band to people in rural Wales as one of the highlights.

The government spent millions rolling out superfast broadband across Powys and Wales, and the First Minister said: "The broadband scheme has been something that has been hugely beneficial for areas of Mid Wales to get them connected.

"96 per cent of rural Wales now has superfast broadband, and we would have been nowhere close to if we would have left it to the market."

Mr Jones also spoke about the success of businesses and manufacturers such as Zip Clip and others across Mid Wales.

Under the current government, the go ahead was given to build a new bypass in Newtown after decades of calls for something to be done to tackle long running traffic problems.

After a public enquiry, work began on the construction, which is set to cost over £65 million, and work is scheduled to be completed early in 2019.

Mr Jones added: "The bypass getting underway has been another good moment, and it will improve the area massively.

"In this region you saw the benefit that came from the Four Crosses bypass, and this will be the same.

"Traffic bottle necking in the town has been a huge problem for many, many years and this will provide a big boost for the area."

Mr Jones will stand down from his role in the Autumn, and he has further announced he won't be standing for re-election to the Welsh Assembly in 2021.