Welsh Secretary Simon Hart promises no 'petty arguments' with Cardiff Bay

New Welsh Secretary Simon Hart has vowed to work "hand in hand" with the Welsh Government.

In his first interview since being promoted to the cabinet, Mr Hart said he wants "a positive relationship with Cardiff".

"I don't want petty Cardiff and Westminster arguments to get in the way", he added.

Mr Hart was given the job on Monday, after Alun Cairns resigned earlier in the election campaign.

The Carmarthen West & South Pembrokeshire MP added that his job is to be "the voice of Wales at the heart of the UK government".

It is "highly unlikely that the UK government would chuck away years of a developing devolution settlement", he told BBC Wales.

He rubbished suggestions his role could be scrapped by Boris Johnson in future. Mr Hart said that was "nonsense", at a time when the Prime Minister was talking about "strengthening the union and promoting all that is good about the devolved nations".

"I'm quite a consensual person as a matter of principle," he said.

"I want to have a positive relationship with Cardiff. In the end we both have the same objectives, we both want the best for the residents of Wales."

"I think voters in Wales, whichever party they prefer, want to see us working hand-in-hand."

Mr Hart's appointment was followed by the news that Monmouth Conservative MP David TC Davies had been made a junior minister - the sixth to hold the post in two years.

He will not be paid for the job. Mr Davies was also made an assistant government whip, a role that he will be paid for.

At the weekend former Welsh Secretary David Jones said cash from the proposed shared prosperity fund - aimed at replacing EU funds after Brexit - should be paid directly to councils.

EU funds are currently administered by the Welsh Government.

Appearing to reject Mr Jones' suggestion, Mr Hart promised to respect the way devolution works in Wales.

"The respect that we owe and we will show to our elected colleagues in Cardiff will be ever present in any decisions we make," he said.

"The idea that we are going to chuck away years of a developing devolution settlement is highly unlikely because what would it achieve.

"We're here to respect the devolution settlement. There's going to be no situation that I can see where one party is going to be strong arming another to make cheap political points," he added.

Comparisons between Mr Hart and Brian Clough, who led Nottingham Forest to European Cup and league titles in the late 1970s, saw the late football manager trending on Twitter on Monday evening.

"I do get stopped on the street by people who asked where my mother was in 1963," Mr Hart said, referring to the year he was born.

"I hope my management is as successful as a Cloughie management."

He said he nearly went up to Michael Sheen, who played Clough in the Damned United, at Port Talbot station to compare their looks. "But I thought it would have been a bit sad if I had have done that".