Humphrey Vaughan ap David Gething[5] was born in Zambia in 1974,where his father,a whiteWelsh veterinarian from Ogmore-by-Sea in Glamorgan,met his mother,who is a black Zambian and was working as a chicken farmer.[7] Gething describes his father as "a white Welsh economic migrant".[7] When he was two years old,he moved to Abergavenny in Monmouthshire,Wales,with his family,which also included three brothers and a sister.[8][7] In Monmouthshire,his family experienced racism when an employer withdrew a job offer to Gething's father upon seeing the rest of his family.[8][9] Speaking of the incident,Gething said:"They said,'Come back with your family and we'll sign everything up',but he walked in with my mother,and a trail of brown boys,and the job offer got withdrawn".[9] His father eventually found work in Dorset,England,where Gething was brought up.[8]
He served as a councillor from 2004 to 2008,representing Butetown electoral ward on Cardiff Council,having been elected with a majority of two votes over candidate Betty Campbell.[11][17] Following the election,Campbell sent a complaint letter to Cardiff Council alleging that Gething had infringed election rules by handing out leaflets to voters as they entered polling stations and telling them how to vote.[18] Campbell initially intended to have the vote re-examined in the High Court,but abandoned this because of the estimated cost of £12,000.[19]
In the 2011 National Assembly for Wales election,Gething was selected as the Welsh Labour candidate for the Cardiff South and Penarth constituency in the Senedd,after Lorraine Barrett,who had represented Cardiff South and Penarth since the Senedd's creation in 1999,had announced her intention to stand down from her role. On 5May 2011,Gething increased the Labour vote with a swing of 12.5%. At 13,814,his share of the vote was over 50%,giving him a majority of 6,259 over the Welsh Conservative Party candidate,Ben Gray,placed second.[20][21] At the following 2016 election,Gething was relected.[22]
Gething did not support Jeremy Corbyn in either the 2015 or 2016 Labour Party leadership election (against challenger Owen Smith);however,he stated in a 2017 BBC Radio Wales interview that he would still like to see Corbyn as Prime Minister,saying quote,"I want a Labour prime minister –and that means Jeremy Corbyn being prime minister. [...] I don't think it matters whether I'm a fan or not –it matters whether I think he can do the job in running the country".[24][25]
In August 2017,Gething walked away in the middle of an interview on ITV Wales,when questioned by journalist James Crichton-Smith over his decision not to hold a public inquiry into Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board,following allegations that an employee had sexually assaulted vulnerable patients.[26]
Minister for Health and management of the COVID-19 pandemic
Gething served as the Welsh Minister for Health and Social Services during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021.
On 12 March 2020,despite a steady surge in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Wales and other sporting events getting cancelled,Gething resisted calls to postpone a rugby union match between Wales and Scotland at the Principality Stadium,which was due to be sold-out with 74,000 spectators.[29] On the following day,the Welsh Rugby Union announced that the match was officially cancelled.[30] Gething justified his decision in a BBC Radio Wales interview,saying quote,"The medical advice about the risk to people going to the rugby didn't change. What did change was the fact that the rest of sporting world decided that,regardless of that advice,they wanted to put off events".[31]
On 22 April 2020,Gething was caught swearing about fellow Labour MS Jenny Rathbone during a virtual session of the Senedd on Zoom. After Rathbone had asked the Minister a few questions about the Welsh Government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic,he failed to mute his microphone as he told an unknown person,"What the fuck is the matter with her?".[32][33] Some undisclosed Labour MSs contacted by BBC Wales said they were also "very angry" over Gething's actions.[32]
In May of the same year,Gething was reportedly photographed by a Sun reporter eating chips with his young son in a local park,prompting criticism by those who suggested he was breaking the COVID-19 restrictions he had imposed himself. Gething denied the accusations,and the Welsh Government stated nothing he had done contravened such regulations.[34]
Gething was questioned at the UK COVID-19 Inquiry in July 2023,due to his former role as Wales' Minister for Health during the COVID-19 pandemic;in his deposition,he admitted that he had never read a report on Exercise Cygnus,a simulation exercise to estimate the impact of a hypothetical influenza pandemic on the UK population.[35]
In December 2023, Gething became one of two candidates in the Welsh Labour leadership election to replace Drakeford as party leader and Wales' First Minister.[36]
On 16 January, Gething and the other candidate, Jeremy Miles, took part in a hustings event to get the nomination from the trade union Unite. Miles' team were then informed of a rule requiring that only people who had been "lay officials" could be nominated. Gething therefore received the nomination.[37] Miles claimed he was unfairly blocked from the union nomination.[38] An unnamed Unite official was quoted by BBC News as saying that the nomination of Gething was a "shocking mess".[39] Journalist Martin Shipton later uncovered that Gething had only joined Unite a few months beforehand.[40]
On 16 March, it was announced that Gething had won the election with 51.7% of the vote, thus becoming the leader of Welsh Labour and would be the new First Minister of Wales.[41][42]
Atlantic Recycling
In February 2024, it was reported that Gething had received a campaign donation of £200,000 from David John Neal, a businessman who had previously been convicted twice of environmental offenses as head of two companies, Atlantic Recycling and Neal Soil Suppliers.[43][44] One of Gething's ministerial colleagues, Lee Waters (who supported Miles in the Welsh Labour election), described the donation as "completely unjustifiable and wrong".[43][44]
The following month, an inquiry by BBC Wales shared letters written by Gething in 2016 and 2018 to Natural Resources Wales, requesting the public body to ease restrictions on Atlantic Recycling. Former Welsh Government minister, Leighton Andrews, was quoted as saying that the donations were "damaging devolution" and called for his fellow party member to return Neal's campaign donation,[45][46] which Gething refused to do.[46]
Gething was officially nominated as First Minister by the Senedd on 20 March 2024,[47][48] and announced his cabinet the following day.[49][50] In the process, he became the first Black First Minister of Wales,[41] as well as the first Black leader of any European country.[42][48]
During the inquiry into the COVID-19 Pandemic response, Gething stated that he had not deliberately deleted any messages from his phone.[52] On 7 May 2024, Nation.Cymru obtained text messages from Gething in a Welsh Government group chat, in which he said "I'm deleting the messages in this group. They can be captured in an FOI [Freedom of Information request] and I think we are all in the right place on the choice being made."[52] Gething denied allegations of Perjury put to him in by Rhun ap Iorwerth in First Minister's Questions the same day, describing the allegations as 'obonxious'.[53] A few days later, he removed Hannah Blythyn from her role as Minister for Social Partnership, alleging that she was the leak of the text messages.[54] She denied this.[55] Blythyn was replaced by Sarah Murphy on 17 May 2024.[56]
On 17 May 2024, Rhun ap Iorwerth announced that Plaid Cymru had withdrawn from the co-operation agreement with Welsh Labour,[57] saying "I remain deeply concerned that the First Minister has failed to pay back the £200,000 donation to his leadership campaign from a company convicted of environmental offences, and believe it demonstrates a significant lack of judgment."[58] Gething responded by saying that "The co-operation agreement was about mature politics, working together on areas where we agree. While it was always a time-limited agreement, we are disappointed Plaid Cymru has decided to walk away from their opportunity to deliver for the people of Wales."[58]
The first minister of Wales, known as first secretary of Wales from 1999 until 2000, is the leader of the Welsh Government and keeper of the Welsh Seal. The first minister chairs the Welsh Cabinet and is primarily responsible for the formulation, development and presentation of Welsh Government policy. Additional functions of the first minister include promoting and representing Wales in an official capacity, at home and abroad, and responsibility for constitutional affairs, as they relate to devolution and the Welsh Government.
Politics in Wales forms a distinctive polity in the wider politics of the United Kingdom, with Wales as one of the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom (UK).
The 2011 National Assembly for Wales election was an election for the National Assembly. The poll was held on 5 May 2011 and decided the incumbency for all the Assembly's seats. It was the fourth election for seats in the National Assembly for Wales, and the second election taken under the rules of the Government of Wales Act 2006.
Politics of Cardiff refers to the political representation of the city of Cardiff, capital of Wales. Cardiff is represented politically at a local, Wales and United Kingdom level and previously at the European level.
Mick Antoniw is a Welsh Labour and Co-operative politician, serving as Counsel General for Wales since 2021, having previously served in the position from 2016 to 2017. He previously served as Minister for the Constitution from 2021 to 2024. He has been the Member of the Senedd (MS) for Pontypridd since 2011.
Jeremy Miles is a Welsh Labour Co-op politician, serving as Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Energy and Welsh Language since 2024. He previously served in the Welsh Government as Counsel General for Wales from 2017 to 2021, Brexit Minister from 2018 to 2021, and the Minister for coordinating Wales’ recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic from 2020 to 2021. Miles has been the Member of the Senedd (MS) for Neath since 2016.
Mark Drakeford is a Welsh politician who served as First Minister of Wales and Leader of Welsh Labour from 2018 to 2024. He previously served in the Welsh Government as Cabinet Secretary for Finance from 2016 to 2018 and Minister for Health and Social Services from 2013 to 2016. Drakeford was first elected as the Member of the Senedd (MS) for Cardiff West in 2011 and is considered to be on the soft left of Labour.
Jenny Ann Rathbone is a Welsh Labour and Co-operative politician who has been a Member of the Senedd (MS) since 2011.
Kenneth Christian Skates is a Welsh Labour politician who has served as Cabinet Secretary for North Wales and Transport since 2024. Skates has represented the constituency of Clwyd South in the Senedd since the election of 2011. He is an alumnus of the University of Cambridge, and worked as a journalist prior to becoming a politician. In September 2014 he became the deputy minister for Culture, Tourism and Sport. From May 2016 to December 2018 he was the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Infrastructure and Skills, and was the Minister for Economy, Transport and North Wales until he stood down on 13 May 2021.
Hannah Blythyn is a Welsh politician who served as the Minister for Social Partnership in the Welsh Government from 2021 to 2024. She was previously the Environment Minister from 2017 to 2018 and the Deputy Minister for Housing and Local Government from 2018 to 2021. A member of Welsh Labour and Co-operative Party, she has been the Member of the Senedd (MS) for Delyn since 2016.
Dawn Alison Louise Bowden is a British Labour Party politician and trade unionist serving as Minister for Social Care since 2024. She previously served as Chief Whip of the Welsh Government from 2021 to 2023 and Deputy Minister for Arts and Sport from 2021 to 2024. Bowden has been the Member of the Senedd (MS) for Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney since 2016.
The 2021 Senedd election took place on Thursday 6 May 2021 to elect 60 members to the Senedd. It was the sixth devolved general election since the Senedd was established in 1999. The election was held alongside the Scottish Parliament election, English local elections, London Assembly and mayoral election and the Hartlepool by-election.
The 2018 Welsh Labour Party leadership election took place between 9 November and 6 December 2018 to elect a successor to Carwyn Jones as leader of the Welsh Labour Party.
The next Senedd election is due to be held on or before 7 May 2026 to elect 96 members to the Senedd. It will be the seventh devolved general election since the Senedd was established in 1999. It will also be the second election since the Senedd changed its name in May 2020, and the first following reforms to the voting system which increased the size of the Senedd from 60 members to 96 and shortened its term from five years to four.
The 2024 United Kingdom general election is scheduled to be held on Thursday, 4 July 2024. 32 seats will be up for election in Wales as the general election will occur after the recently completed boundary review took effect.
The 2024 Welsh Labour leadership election took place between February and March 2024 to select Mark Drakeford's successor as leader of Welsh Labour, who in turn would become First Minister of Wales. Drakeford announced his resignation and retirement on 13 December 2023, five years after his election. Voting began in February 2024 with the new leader announced on 16 March 2024. Vaughan Gething won the election with 51.7% of the vote. The next scheduled Senedd election is due on or before 7 May 2026.
In December 2021, the Welsh Labour government and Plaid Cymru signed a three-year co-operation agreement, where the two parties agreed to work together in 46 policy areas. The agreement was not a coalition or confidence and supply agreement; Plaid Cymru remained in opposition but appointed advisers to offices of the Welsh Government.
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The Cabinet Secretary for Transport is a minister of the Welsh Government. The current officeholder is Ken Skates, since March 2024.
The Gething government is the Labour-led government of Wales formed on 21 March 2024 following the appointment of Vaughan Gething as First Minister on 20 March 2024.
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