UPDATE 2-Peruvian governor accepts job of prime minister

(Updates with union leader comment, details)

By Marco Aquino

LIMA, Oct 11 (Reuters) - A leftist provincial governor said on Saturday he has accepted an offer to become Peru's new prime minister, after President Alan Garcia fired his entire cabinet over a widening corruption scandal involving oil and gas contracts.

"Unfortunately I've got ahead of myself, it is surely the president who will have to make the announcement," Yehude Simon, governor of the northern province of Lambayeque, told Peru's RPP radio when asked if he would take the job.

By picking Simon, jailed a decade ago for his links to a guerrilla group, Garcia may be trying to place greater emphasis on social programs, neutralize critics on the left, and regain support in the provinces, where he is especially unpopular.

Garcia's approval rating has fallen to 19 percent, an all-time low for his current term, as critics say surging economic growth of 9 percent a year has failed to lift millions out of poverty.

He had faced calls from opposition leaders to reshuffle his cabinet after audio tapes emerged that linked members of his APRA party to a plan to steer lucrative petroleum contracts to favored bidders in exchange for bribes.

Former prime minister Jorge del Castillo, Garcia's right-hand man, was mentioned in the taped conversations as someone who would provide favors in a plan to rig auctions of oil and gas concessions.

Del Castillo also had lengthy meetings with APRA party members who were working as lobbyists and involved in the auctions, but has denied any wrongdoing.