VAUGHAN GETHING QUITS AS WELSH FIRST MINISTER

Vaughan Gething is to quit as Welsh First Minister after a matter of months amid an astonishing Labour revolt against his leadership.

In a statement this morning Mr Gething, 50, said he will 'begin the process of stepping down as leader of the Welsh Labour Party and, as a result, First Minister'.

It came after Mick Antoniw, Julie James, Lesley Griffiths and Jeremy Miles announced they were resigning from the government in Cardiff in a co-ordinated move against him.

Mr Gething, 50, only took up the role in March and was prominently visited by PM Keir Starmer and deputy PM Angela Rayner in the election campaign, when Labour won 27 of the 32 seats in Wales.

His decision to quit also comes as the new Westminster Labour government launches plans to devolve more power to the UK nations and English regions.

The FM has been under huge pressure for the whole of his short tenure over a £200,000 donation he received for his leadership campaign from a businessman convicted of an environmental crime for dumping waste on a conservation site.

Mr Gething has also refused to show any evidence to justify sacking Labour Senedd member Hannah Blythyn from his government, after he accused her of leaking messages to the media. This led to the collapse of a co-operation agreement between his party and Plaid Cymru.

Last month he lost a confidence vote in his leadership but refused to step down as First Minister. He becomes the second FM to quit this year, after Humza Yousaf was forced out in Scotland.

In a letter quitting as Welsh economy secretary, Mr Miles, who ran against Mr Gething for the leadership, wrote: 'We cannot continue like this.'

Mr Gething said he recognised that 'rebuilding and renewal' was 'not possible' under his leadership.

In a statement announcing his resignation, he said: 'I have this morning taken the difficult decision to begin the process of stepping down as leader of the Welsh Labour Party and, as a result, First Minister.

'Having been elected as leader of my party in March, I had hoped that over the summer a period of reflection, rebuilding and renewal could take place under my leadership.

'I recognise now that this is not possible.

'It has been the honour of my life to do this job even for a few short months.

'To see the dedication to public service from our civil service, and the dedication to civility from the Welsh public.

'To see the election of a new government in Westminster, and the fresh hope that brings to Wales.

'I have always pursued my political career to serve Wales.'

Earlier Mr Miles had called on the First Minister to resign and said 'the events of the last few months including your loss of the confidence vote in the Senedd, have been incredibly painful'.

He told Mr Gething: 'It's essential that we begin to repair the damage immediately, and I have reached the conclusion very regrettably that this cannot happen under your leadership.

'I can't see any way forward for us which allows us to get on with job we are elected to do, without you standing down.'

Who is Vaughan Gething?

Vaughan Gething made history in March when he became the first black leader of any European country, succeeding Mark Drakeford as the First Minster of Wales.

He described his victory as 'a matter of pride for a modern Wales but also a daunting responsibility for me - and one that I do not take lightly'.

He joined the Labour Party at 17 to help campaign in the 1992 elections.

Mr Gething has been in the Senedd since 2011 and in the cabinet since 2016.

He rose to prominence as health minister throughout the Covid pandemic, a post he held from 2016 to 2021, before becoming economy minister.

Mr Gething was born in Zambia in 1974, where his father, a Welsh vet from Ogmore-by-Sea in Glamorgan, met his mother, a chicken farmer.

He has spoken openly about his experiences of prejudice and said in his leadership campaign he did not want anyone in Wales to feel that way.

When he was two, his family moved to Abergavenny in Monmouthshire, where his father was due to start a new job, but the offer was withdrawn when he arrived with a black family.

After his father lost his job in Abergavenny, the family moved to Dorset in England.

Mr Gething later studied law at Aberystwyth University and unsuccessfully stood for the Mid and West Wales seat at the first National Assembly elections in 1999, before becoming councillor for the Butetown area of Cardiff in 2004.

He stood for the Senedd elections again in 2011, when he successfully took the Cardiff South and Penarth Seat.

Mr Gething previously ran for the Labour leadership and first minister position in 2018, when he lost to Mr Drakeford.

Mr Antoniw told the leader 'I do not believe you can continue as First Minister' as he quit as the Welsh Government's counsel general.

Urging the First Minister to 'put the country first' he said the Senedd was 'rudderless' without a new leader.

Mr Antoniw said: 'Wales needs confident and stable government. I do not believe you are capable of delivering that.

'You have lost a vote of confidence in the Senedd. That is something I regard as being of major constitutional importance.

'It is clear that you no longer command a majority, that you will be unable to enter into the agreements necessary to pass a budget, and for all intents and purposes the Senedd is rudderless.

'We are all here to do the best for our country. I believe it is now necessary for you to choose to put the country first and resign as First Minister to allow an election for a new First Minister and leader of Welsh Labour.'

At the start of June Mr Gething broke down in tears as he lost the no-confidence vote in the Senedd.

The no confidence motion was passed by 29 to 27, with two of Mr Gething's assembly members seemingly off sick.

He had already appeared with Sir Keir and Ms Rayner as they launched Labour's general election campaign in Wales. And he was front and centre with the PM as he toured the UK after his win on July 4.

Mr Gething has been involved in a series of rows since he replaced Mark Drakeford as Welsh Labour leader in March.

This includes controversy over donations from businessman David Neal, a convicted polluter who dumped waste on a conservation site.

There were also claims Mr Gething may have deleted messages that could be of interest to the Covid Inquiry.

Social partnership minister Hannah Blythyn was removed from the Welsh Government in May, after messages from the Covid pandemic were leaked to the website Nation.Cymru.

They featured a message posted to a ministerial group chat in August 2020 by Mr Gething, saying that he was 'deleting the messages in this group'.

He previously told the UK Covid-19 Inquiry that lost WhatsApp messages were not deleted by him, but by the Welsh Parliament's IT team during a security rebuild.

Last week at the Senedd's Scrutiny Committee the FM defended his decision, insisting that evidence showed messages given to Nation.Cymru came from her phone.

However, he insisted he has never tried to claim Ms Blythyn directly contacted the media herself.

Delyn MS Ms Blythyn had previously said she could 'look all my colleagues who sit on these benches in the eye' and say she had not leaked to the media.

And on Thursday, Nation.Cymru came out and insisted Ms Blythyn was not the source of the leak which triggered her sacking.

Welsh Tory leader Andrew RT Davies said: 'Vaughan Gething's resignation is long overdue.

'But there can be no doubt that his Labour colleagues, from those who resigned today all the way up to Keir Starmer, have stood by his side, and are culpable for the breakdown in governance in Wales. Wales will remember.'

And Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth said: 'Vaughan Gething has led a government of chaos and put his own self-interest before the interests of the people of Wales.

'For months, the First Minister's poor judgment, aversion to scrutiny and ''do nothing'' approach to governing has undermined the office of First Minister and brought Welsh politics into disrepute.'

2024-07-16T10:53:18Z dg43tfdfdgfd