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The July 2024 Welsh Labour leadership election was held to find Vaughan Gething's successor as leader of Welsh Labour, after he announced his resignation on 16 July 2024, just four months after he was elected. After nominations closed on 24 July 2024 at 12:00, Eluned Morgan, Baroness Morgan of Ely was confirmed to be the sole candidate, and therefore elected leader unopposed. [1]
Following Mark Drakeford's resignation as First Minister of Wales and Leader of Welsh Labour, Vaughan Gething was elected to succeed him in the February–March 2024 Welsh Labour leadership election. Gething was officially nominated as First Minister by the Senedd on 20 March 2024, [2] [3] and announced his cabinet the following day. [4] [5] In the process, he became the first black First Minister of Wales, [6] as well as the first black leader of any European country. [7] [3] His appointment to His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council was announced on 28 March 2024 as part of the 2024 Special Honours. [8]
During the inquiry into the COVID-19 pandemic response, Gething stated that he had not deliberately deleted any messages from his phone. [9] On 7 May, 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." [9] 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 'obnoxious'. [10] 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. [11] She denied this. [12] Blythyn was replaced by Sarah Murphy on 17 May. [13]
On 17 May, Rhun ap Iorwerth announced that Plaid Cymru had withdrawn from the co-operation agreement with Welsh Labour. [14] On 5 June, after just 77 days as First Minister, Gething faced a non-binding vote of no-confidence in him as First Minister, tabled by the Welsh Conservatives, in which he lost by a margin of 29 votes to 27. [15] Despite losing the no confidence vote, Gething announced he would not resign as First Minister on 8 June. [16] However, on 16 July, he announced his resignation, [17] an hour after ministers Mick Antoniw, Julie James, Lesley Griffiths and Jeremy Miles stepped down from their posts. [18] His resignation, announced 118 days into his premiership, [19] will formally take effect when his successor is elected, and will make him the shortest serving First Minister since the role was created, a record previously held by Alun Michael as First Secretary of Wales. [20] [21]
The timeline for the election was discussed by the Welsh Executive Committee on 20 July 2024 and announced on the same day. Nominations opened at 19:00 BST on 20 July and are scheduled to close at 12:00 on 24 July. Nominees needed the support of five Labour Members of the Senedd to be included on the ballot paper. If there was more than one candidate, ballot papers would have been sent out to members of Welsh Labour and their affiliated bodies, including trade unions, on 22 August, to be returned by 13 September, with the result announced on 14 September. [22]
However, as only Eluned Morgan was nominated, she was elected unopposed as the new leader with the close of nominations on 24 July. [1] [23] [24]
Ifor Huw Irranca-Davies is a Welsh Labour and Co-operative politician who has served as Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs since 2024. He has been the Member of the Senedd (MS) for Ogmore since 2016. Irranca-Davies was previously the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ogmore from 2002 to 2016.
The first minister of Wales 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.
Mair Eluned Morgan, Baroness Morgan of Ely, is a Welsh Labour politician who has been the Leader of Welsh Labour since 2024, and is set to become the next First Minister of Wales. She also served as Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care in the Welsh Government from 2021 to 2024.
Susan Lesley Griffiths is a Welsh Labour politician who was Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice from March to July 2024. She previously served as Trefnydd of the Senedd and Minister for North Wales from 2021 to 2024, and Minister for Rural Affairs from 2016 to 2024. She worked as a secretary to John Marek and the constituency assistant to Ian Lucas, successive Members of Parliament for Wrexham, and was elected to the Senedd from the Wrexham constituency in 2007. She has held a number of cabinet positions in the Welsh Government. In December 2009 she was appointed Deputy Minister for Science, Innovation and Skills.
Lynne Neagle is a Welsh Labour & Co-operative politician serving as Cabinet Secretary for Education since 2024. Born in Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorgan, Wales, Neagle has been the Member of the Senedd (MS) for the constituency of Torfaen since the Senedd was established in 1999.
The Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Energy and Welsh Language is a member of the Cabinet in the Welsh Government. The office has been vacant since July 2024. The economy portfolio was put under the responsibility of Cabinet Secretary for North Wales and Transport, Ken Skates, by First Minister Vaughan Gething in July 2024, following the resignation of the previous officeholder Jeremy Miles, in the lead up to Gething announcing his own resignation.
Humphrey Vaughan ap David Gething is a Welsh Labour and Co-operative Party politician serving as First Minister of Wales since March 2024, and served as leader of Welsh Labour from March to July 2024, making him the first black leader of any European country. Gething 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, who was Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Energy and Welsh Language from March to July 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.
Julie James is a Welsh Labour politician who has been the Member of the Senedd (MS) for Swansea West since 2011. She served in the Welsh Government in various roles from 2018 to July 2024.
The Cabinet Secretary for Local Government is a cabinet position in the Welsh Government which has existed in various forms since the creation of the Welsh Government. The current officeholder is Jayne Bryant since July 2024.
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.
Jayne Bryant is a Welsh Labour Party politician serving as Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Local Government, and Planning since July 2024. Since May 2016 she has represented Newport West in the Senedd.
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 February–March 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.
Events from the year 2024 in Wales.
The Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice is a member of the Cabinet in the Welsh Government. The current officeholder is Jane Hutt since July 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.
Rhun ap Iorwerth, the leader of Plaid Cymru, formed his frontbench team of party spokespeople in the Senedd on 27 June 2023 after he was elected unopposed to succeed Adam Price as party leader on 16 June. He reshuffled his frontbench team on 6 June 2024 to prepare for the next Senedd election following the passage of a motion of no confidence in First Minister Vaughan Gething.
In June 2024, Vaughan Gething, first minister of Wales and leader of Welsh Labour, faced a non-binding vote of no-confidence in him as First Minister, tabled by the Welsh Conservatives, which he lost by a margin of 29 votes to 27 but did not resign at the time. Following mounting criticism over a campaign donation of £200,000 from a criminal businessman, and the resignation of four cabinet ministers, on 16 July 2024 Gething announced his resignation as First Minister. His resignation will formally take effect when his successor is elected.
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