Hywel Rhodri Morgan was a Welsh Labour politician who was the First Minister of Wales and the Leader of Welsh Labour from 2000 to 2009. He was also the Assembly Member for Cardiff West from 1999 to 2011 and the Member of Parliament for Cardiff West from 1987 to 2001. He remains the longest-serving First Minister of Wales, having served in the position for 9 years and 304 days. He was Chancellor of Swansea University from 2011 until his death in 2017.
The Senedd, officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and Senedd Cymru in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, it makes laws for Wales, agrees to certain taxes, and scrutinises the Welsh Government. It is a bilingual institution, with both Welsh and English being the official languages of its business. From its creation in May 1999 until May 2020, the Senedd was officially known as the National Assembly for Wales and often simply called the Welsh Assembly.
Glenys Elizabeth Kinnock, Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead,, was a British politician and teacher who served as Minister of State for Europe from June to October 2009 and Minister of State for Africa and the United Nations from 2009 to 2010. A member of the Labour Party, she was previously a member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Wales, formerly South Wales East, from 1994 to 2009.
Julie Morgan is a Welsh Labour Party politician, who has been a Member of the Senedd for Cardiff North seat in the Senedd since the 2011 election. She was previously Member of Parliament (MP) for Cardiff North from 1997 until 2010.
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).
Jennifer Elizabeth Randerson, Baroness Randerson is a Welsh Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords. She is a former junior minister in the Wales Office serving in the Cameron–Clegg coalition. Prior to her peerage she was an Assembly Member for Cardiff Central from 1999 to 2011 when she served in the Welsh Labour-Lib Dem administration of the 2000–2003 Welsh Assembly Government.
Welsh Labour, formerly known as the Labour Party in Wales, is an autonomous section of the United Kingdom Labour Party in Wales and the largest party in modern Welsh politics. Welsh Labour and its forebears have won a plurality of the Welsh vote at every UK general election since 1922, every Assembly and Senedd election since 1999, and all elections to the European Parliament in the period 1979–2004 and in 2014. Welsh Labour holds 22 of the 40 Welsh seats in the UK Parliament, 30 of the 60 seats in the Welsh Senedd and 576 of the 1,264 councillors in principal local authorities including overall control of 10 of the 22 principal local authorities.
There are four types of elections in Wales: elections to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, elections to the devolved Senedd, local elections to community councils and the 22 principal areas, and the Police and Crime Commissioner elections. In addition there are by-elections for each aforementioned election. Elections are held on Election Day, which is conventionally a Thursday. Since the passing of the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 for UK general elections, all four types of elections are held after fixed periods, though early elections to the UK parliament can occur in certain situations, with Senedd elections being postponed to avoid elections to the UK parliament and Senedd coinciding with each other.
Thomas Alun Rhys Davies is a Welsh Labour and Co-operative party politician serving as the Member of the Senedd (MS) for Blaenau Gwent since 2011, and formerly Mid and West Wales from 2007 to 2011. He has served in several Welsh government offices, including Cabinet Secretary for Local Government and Public Services, Minister for Lifelong Learning and Welsh Language, and Minister for Natural Resources and Food.
Humphrey Vaughan ap David Gething is a Welsh Labour and Co-operative politician who has served as First Minister of Wales and the leader of Welsh Labour since 2024. He previously served as the Minister for Health and Social Services from 2016 to 2021 and Minister for the Economy from 2021 to 2024. He has been the Member of the Senedd (MS) for Cardiff South and Penarth 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.
The 2016 National Assembly for Wales election was held on Thursday 5 May 2016, to elect members (AMs) of the National Assembly for Wales, now known as the Senedd. It was the fifth election for the National Assembly, the third election taken under the rules of the Government of Wales Act 2006 and the first since the Wales Act 2014.
Neil John McEvoy is a Welsh nationalist politician, serving as leader of Propel since 2020, and as a Cardiff Councillor for the Fairwater ward since 2008.
Jayne Bryant is a Welsh Labour Party politician. Since May 2016 she has represented Newport West in the Senedd.
The 1999 Welsh Labour leadership election was held on 20 February 1999. Alun Michael was elected as Labour's nominee for First Secretary. Michael would go on to become First Secretary in a minority Labour government following the 1999 Assembly election. Runner up Rhodri Morgan went on to serve in Michael's first cabinet and then succeeded him as First Secretary in February 2000.
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.
Deborah Ann Wilcox, Baroness Wilcox of Newport is a British politician serving as a Member of the House of Lords since 2019. A member of the Labour Party, she served as Leader of the Welsh Local Government Association from 2017 to 2019. Wilcox was Leader of Newport City Council from 2016 to 2019 and served on the Council from 2004 to 2022.
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.
