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==Early life== ==Early life==
Gething was born in ] in 1974, where his father, a ] ] veterinarian from ] in ], met his mother who is a Black Zambian and was working as a chicken farmer.<ref name="Grauniad 1">{{cite news|last=Owen|first=Paul|date=3 August 2009|title=Black Welshman aims to take the fight to the BNP|newspaper=The Guardian|publisher=Guardian News and Media|location=Manchester|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/aug/03/vaughan-gething-labour|access-date=12 May 2011}}</ref> Gething describes his father as "a white Welsh economic migrant".<ref name="Grauniad 1" /> When he was two years old, he moved to ] in ], with his family and has three brothers and a sister.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Vaughan Gething wants to be Welsh Labour's Sadiq Khan|url=https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/vaughan-gething-health-minister|access-date=14 July 2020|website=British GQ|date=31 October 2018 |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref name="Grauniad 1"/> His father eventually found work in ], where Gething was brought up,<ref name=":1" /> after the family experienced racism involving an employer in Monmouthshire withdrawing a job offer upon seeing his family.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/vaughan-gething-health-minister | title=Vaughan Gething wants to be Welsh Labour's Sadiq Khan | date=31 October 2018 }}</ref>. 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family and we'll sign everything up but he walked in with my mother, and a trail of brown boys and the job offer got withdrawn. <ref>https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/politics/vaughan-gething-interview-racism-faced-15375483</ref> Gething was born in ] in 1974, where his father, a ] ] veterinarian from ] in ], met his mother, who is a Black Zambian and was working as a chicken farmer.<ref name="Grauniad 12">{{cite news |last=Owen |first=Paul |date=3 August 2009 |title=Black Welshman aims to take the fight to the BNP |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/aug/03/vaughan-gething-labour |access-date=12 May 2011 |newspaper=The Guardian |publisher=Guardian News and Media |location=Manchester}}</ref> Gething describes his father as "a white Welsh economic migrant".<ref name="Grauniad 12" /> When he was two years old, he moved to ] in ], with his family, which also included three brothers and a sister.<ref name=":12">{{Cite web |date=31 October 2018 |title=Vaughan Gething wants to be Welsh Labour's Sadiq Khan |url=https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/vaughan-gething-health-minister |access-date=14 July 2020 |website=British GQ |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref name="Grauniad 12" /> In Monmouthshire, his family experienced ] as an employer withdrew a job offer to Gething's father upon seeing the rest of his family.<ref>{{cite web |date=31 October 2018 |title=Vaughan Gething wants to be Welsh Labour's Sadiq Khan |url=https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/vaughan-gething-health-minister}}</ref><ref name=":02">https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/politics/vaughan-gething-interview-racism-faced-15375483</ref> 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".<ref name=":02" /> His father eventually found work in ], where Gething was brought up.<ref name=":12" />


Gething studied at ] in Dorset, followed by ], where he read Law and graduated in 1999,<ref name="Aber">{{cite web |url= https://www.aber.ac.uk/en/news/archive/2011/06/title-99398-en.html|publisher= ]|title= Alumni at the Senedd|access-date=14 May 2020}}</ref> and then went on to the ], ].<ref name="Grauniad 1" /><ref name="Llafur 1">{{cite web|url=http://vaughangething.com/images/VaughanGethingAssemblySelection2011.pdf |title=Vaughan Gething Assembly selection 2011 |publisher=] |year=2011 |access-date=13 May 2011}}</ref> Gething became President of ] and the first Black president of the ].<ref name="Grauniad 1" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=About Vaughan – Vaughan Gething MS {{!}} Cardiff South & Penarth|url=https://www.vaughangething.wales/en/about-vaughan/|access-date=10 July 2020|website=Vaughan Gething MS {{!}} Cardiff South & Penarth|language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Crecsi|first=Elena|title=From student unions to the Senedd and Westminster, how do today's youth become tomorrow's AMs and MPs?|url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2013/03/15/from-student-unions-to-the-senedd-and-westminster-how-do-today-s-youth-become-tomorrow-s-ams-and-mps-91466-32992122/|access-date=15 March 2013|newspaper=Wales Online|date=15 March 2013}}</ref> Gething studied at ] in Dorset, followed by ], where he graduated with a ] in Law in 1999;<ref name="Aber2">{{cite web |title=Alumni at the Senedd |url=https://www.aber.ac.uk/en/news/archive/2011/06/title-99398-en.html |access-date=14 May 2020 |publisher=]}}</ref> he then attended the ], ].<ref name="Grauniad 12" /><ref name="Llafur 12">{{cite web |year=2011 |title=Vaughan Gething Assembly selection 2011 |url=http://vaughangething.com/images/VaughanGethingAssemblySelection2011.pdf |access-date=13 May 2011 |publisher=]}}</ref> During his academic career, Gething became President of ], as well as the first Black president of the ].<ref name="Grauniad 12" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=About Vaughan – Vaughan Gething MS {{!}} Cardiff South & Penarth |url=https://www.vaughangething.wales/en/about-vaughan/ |access-date=10 July 2020 |website=Vaughan Gething MS {{!}} Cardiff South & Penarth |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Crecsi |first=Elena |date=15 March 2013 |title=From student unions to the Senedd and Westminster, how do today's youth become tomorrow's AMs and MPs? |url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2013/03/15/from-student-unions-to-the-senedd-and-westminster-how-do-today-s-youth-become-tomorrow-s-ams-and-mps-91466-32992122/ |access-date=15 March 2013 |newspaper=Wales Online}}</ref>


==Professional career== ==Professional career==
Having completed his training as a ] in Cardiff in 2001, with the trade union solicitors Thompsons, Gething chose to specialise in employment law. He became a partner in Thompsons in 2007.<ref name="Llafur 1"/> Having completed his training as a ] with the ] firm ] in ] in 2001, Gething chose to specialise in ]. He eventually became a partner in Thompsons in 2007.<ref name="Llafur 12" />


In 2008, at the age of 34, Gething became the youngest President of ], also becoming the first mixed race person in the role.<ref name="Morgan 1">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7416857.stm |title=Morgan urges Labour to hold firm |work=]|publisher=]|date=23 May 2008 |access-date=12 May 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Gething|first=Vaughan|title=Vaughan Gething: In Black History Month, I'm proud to be supported by BAME Labour|url=https://labourlist.org/2018/10/vaughan-gething-in-black-history-month-im-proud-to-be-supported-by-bame-labour/|date=28 October 2018|access-date=10 July 2020|website=LabourList|language=en-GB}}</ref> In 2008, at the age of 34, Gething became the youngest President of ], also becoming the first mixed race person to serve in the role.<ref name="Morgan 1">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7416857.stm |title=Morgan urges Labour to hold firm |work=]|publisher=]|date=23 May 2008 |access-date=12 May 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Gething|first=Vaughan|title=Vaughan Gething: In Black History Month, I'm proud to be supported by BAME Labour|url=https://labourlist.org/2018/10/vaughan-gething-in-black-history-month-im-proud-to-be-supported-by-bame-labour/|date=28 October 2018|access-date=10 July 2020|website=LabourList|language=en-GB}}</ref>


==Political career== ==Political career==
] ]Gething joined the ] when he was 17, to campaign in the ].<ref name="Grauniad 12" /> He contested ] for Labour in the ] to the ] in 1999, but was not elected.<ref>{{cite web |title=Mid and West Wales |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/vote_99/wales_99/html/region/2.stm |access-date=2 March 2023 |website=BBC News}}</ref>
Gething joined the ] when he was 17, to campaign in the ].<ref name="Grauniad 1"/> He contested ] in the inaugural elections to the ] in ] for Labour and was not elected.<ref>{{cite web |title=Mid and West Wales |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/vote_99/wales_99/html/region/2.stm |website=BBC News |access-date=2 March 2023}}</ref>


He was a ] from 2004 to 2008, representing ] on ], having been elected with a majority of two votes over candidate ].<ref name="Llafur 1"/><ref name="Gething 1"/> 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.<ref name="campbell">{{Cite web|url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/he-broke-the-rules-2434564|title='He broke the rules'|date=24 June 2004|website=WalesOnline|access-date=12 February 2024}}</ref> Campbell initially intended to have the vote re-examined in the High Court but abandoned this because of the estimated cost of £12,000.<ref name="courtcost">{{Cite web|url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/world-news/police-confirm-probe-over-dirty-2418923|title=Police confirm probe over dirty tricks claim|date=14 October 2004|website=WalesOnline|access-date=12 February 2024}}</ref> He served as a ] from 2004 to 2008, representing ] on ], having been elected with a majority of two votes over candidate ].<ref name="Llafur 12" /><ref name="Gething 12">{{cite web |year=2011 |title=Vaughan Gething-about |url=http://vaughangething.co.uk/about.html |access-date=12 May 2011 |publisher=Vaughan Gething}}{{deadlink|date=March 2024}}</ref> 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.<ref name="campbell2">{{Cite web |date=24 June 2004 |title='He broke the rules' |url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/he-broke-the-rules-2434564 |access-date=12 February 2024 |website=WalesOnline}}</ref> Campbell initially intended to have the vote re-examined in the ], but abandoned this because of the estimated cost of £12,000.<ref name="courtcost2">{{Cite web |date=14 October 2004 |title=Police confirm probe over dirty tricks claim |url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/world-news/police-confirm-probe-over-dirty-2418923 |access-date=12 February 2024 |website=WalesOnline}}</ref>


Gething was selected as the Welsh Labour candidate for the ] constituency in the ]. ], who had represented Cardiff South and Penarth since the Senedd's creation in 1999, had announced her intention to stand down at the 2011 election. At the ] on 5&nbsp;May 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 ] candidate, Ben Gray, placed second.<ref name="BBC Result">{{cite web |date=6 May 2011 |title=Wales elections > Cardiff South and Penarth |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/election2011/constituency/html/26674.stm |access-date=12 May 2011 |work=] |publisher=]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Blake|first=Aled |title=Assembly election: Meet the incoming AMs|url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/need-to-read/2011/05/06/assembly-election-meet-the-incoming-ams-91466-28649615/ |date=6 May 2011 |work=] website |publisher=] |access-date=12 May 2011 }}</ref> At the following 2016 Welsh Assembly election, Gething once again increased his majority in terms of vote share. In the ], Gething was selected as the Welsh Labour candidate for the ] constituency in the ], after ], 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 5&nbsp;May 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 ] candidate, Ben Gray, placed second.<ref name="BBC Result">{{cite web |date=6 May 2011 |title=Wales elections > Cardiff South and Penarth |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/election2011/constituency/html/26674.stm |access-date=12 May 2011 |work=] |publisher=]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Blake|first=Aled |title=Assembly election: Meet the incoming AMs|url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/need-to-read/2011/05/06/assembly-election-meet-the-incoming-ams-91466-28649615/ |date=6 May 2011 |work=] website |publisher=] |access-date=12 May 2011 }}</ref> At the following ], Gething once again increased his majority in terms of vote share.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}


Following the 2016 election, ] ] promoted Gething to the ] as ].<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://gov.wales/about/cabinet/cabinetm/vaughan-gething/?skip=1&lang=en |title= Welsh Government {{!}} Vaughan Gething AM |website= gov.wales |language= EN |access-date= 13 November 2017}}</ref> Following the 2016 election, ] ] promoted Gething to the ], nominating him as ].<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://gov.wales/about/cabinet/cabinetm/vaughan-gething/?skip=1&lang=en |title= Welsh Government {{!}} Vaughan Gething AM |website= gov.wales |language= EN |access-date= 13 November 2017}}</ref>


Gething did not support ] in either the ] or ] (against challenger ]) but stated in a 2017 ] interview that he would still like to see Corbyn as Prime Minister. "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" Gething said.<ref>{{Cite news|date=19 May 2017|title=General election: 'Doesn't matter if I'm a Corbyn fan'|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-39974807.amp}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=13 July 2016|title=Owen Smith to challenge Corbyn for Labour leadership|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jul/13/owen-smith-to-challenge-jeremy-corbyn-labour-leadership}}</ref> Gething did not support ] in either the ] or ] (against challenger ]); however, he stated in a 2017 ] 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".<ref>{{Cite news|date=19 May 2017|title=General election: 'Doesn't matter if I'm a Corbyn fan'|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-39974807.amp}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=13 July 2016|title=Owen Smith to challenge Corbyn for Labour leadership|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jul/13/owen-smith-to-challenge-jeremy-corbyn-labour-leadership}}</ref>


In August 2017, as Health Secretary, Gething walked away mid-interview on ITV Wales television 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.<ref name="interview">{{Cite web|url=https://www.itv.com/news/wales/2017-08-24/health-secretary-walks-away-from-questions-over-calls-for-inquiry-into-health-boards-actions|title=Health Secretary walks away from questions over calls for inquiry into health board's actions|date=24 August 2017|website=ITV|access-date=12 February 2024}}</ref> In August 2017, Gething walked away in the middle of an interview on ], when questioned by journalist James Crichton-Smith over his decision not to hold a ] into ], following allegations that an employee had sexually assaulted vulnerable patients.<ref name="interview">{{Cite web|url=https://www.itv.com/news/wales/2017-08-24/health-secretary-walks-away-from-questions-over-calls-for-inquiry-into-health-boards-actions|title=Health Secretary walks away from questions over calls for inquiry into health board's actions|date=24 August 2017|website=ITV|access-date=12 February 2024}}</ref>


Gething, alongside ] and Mark Drakeford, was one of the three contenders in the ], but was defeated by Finance Secretary ]. Gething, alongside ] and ], was one of the three contenders in the ], but was defeated by the latter candidate. Drakeford subsequently re-appointed Gething in the Welsh Cabinet, by nominating him as Health Minister, with the position renamed as ].{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}


Drakeford subsequently reappointed Gething as Health Minister, with the position renamed as ]. On 13 May 2021, Gething was promoted to ], replacing ]. On 13 May 2021, Gething was appointed as new ], replacing ].{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}


===Minister for Health during Covid pandemic=== ===Minister for Health and management of the COVID-19 pandemic===
Gething was Minister for Health and Social Services during the 2020-2021 ]. Gething served as the Welsh Minister for Health and Social Services during the ] in 2020 and 2021.


On 12 March 2020, as the number of coronavirus cases in Wales reached 25, Gething resisted calls to postpone a Wales versus Scotland rugby match at the Principality Stadium, despite other sporting cancellations. The match was due to be a 74,000 sell-out.<ref name="rugby">{{Cite web|url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/wales-scotland-coronavirus-cardiff-match-17913270|title=Wales v Scotland Six Nations match ON despite rise in coronavirus cases, Welsh health minister says|date=12 March 2020|website=WalesOnline|access-date=12 February 2024}}</ref> On the following day, the Welsh Rugby Union announced that the match was cancelled.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/welsh-health-minister-who-said-17926936 | title=Welsh health minister who said Wales v Scotland was ON speaks for first time | date=15 March 2020 }}</ref> This was one day before it was due to take place, and many Scotland fans had already travelled to Cardiff for the match. In a BBC Radio Wales interview, Gething said "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."<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/one-year-on-untold-story-20057646 | title=Wales match was hours from becoming super spreader amid chaos behind scenes | date=12 March 2021 }}</ref> On 12 March 2020, despite a steady surge in the number of confirmed ] cases in Wales and other sporting events getting cancelled, Gething resisted calls to postpone a ] match between ] and ] at the ], which was due to be sold-out with 74,000 spectators.<ref name="rugby">{{Cite web|url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/wales-scotland-coronavirus-cardiff-match-17913270|title=Wales v Scotland Six Nations match ON despite rise in coronavirus cases, Welsh health minister says|date=12 March 2020|website=WalesOnline|access-date=12 February 2024}}</ref> On the following day, the ] announced that the match was officially cancelled.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/welsh-health-minister-who-said-17926936 | title=Welsh health minister who said Wales v Scotland was ON speaks for first time | date=15 March 2020 }}</ref> 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".<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/one-year-on-untold-story-20057646 | title=Wales match was hours from becoming super spreader amid chaos behind scenes | date=12 March 2021 }}</ref>


On 22 April 2020, Gething was caught swearing about fellow Labour MS ] in a ] of the Senedd. Gething failed to mute his microphone as he told an unknown person "What the fuck is the matter with her?" during the ] meeting. Rathbone had been asking the Minister questions about the Welsh Government's response to the ].<ref name=":0">{{Cite work|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-52385006|title=Coronavirus: Welsh health minister caught swearing about Labour AM|date=22 April 2020|work=BBC News}}</ref> BBC Wales reported that Labour MSs were also "very angry" over Gething's actions.<ref name=":0" /> On 22 April 2020, Gething was caught swearing about fellow Labour MS ] during a ] of the Senedd on ]. After Rathbone had asked the Minister a few questions about the Welsh Government's response to the ], he failed to mute his microphone as he told an unknown person, "What the fuck is the matter with her?".<ref name=":0">{{Cite work |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-52385006 |title=Coronavirus: Welsh health minister caught swearing about Labour AM |date=22 April 2020 |work= |publisher=BBC News}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Waterson |first=Jim |last2=Hern |first2=Alex |date=2020-04-22 |title=Welsh minister's mic mistake broadcasts sweary rant to assembly |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/apr/22/welsh-ministers-mic-mistake-broadcasts-sweary-rant-to-assembly |access-date=2024-03-17 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> Some undisclosed Labour MSs contacted by BBC Wales said they were also "very angry" over Gething's actions.<ref name=":0" />


In May 2020 Gething was photographed eating chips with his young son in a local park. Journalists suggested he was breaking his own Covid-19 restrictions. The Welsh Government stated nothing Gething had done contravened Welsh government regulations.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/may/12/welsh-health-minister-insists-not-broken-lockdown-rules-vaughan-gething|title=Welsh health minister insists he has not broken lockdown ruled|date=12 May 2020|work=]|access-date=25 February 2024}}</ref> In May of the same year, Gething was reportedly photographed by a '']'' 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.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/may/12/welsh-health-minister-insists-not-broken-lockdown-rules-vaughan-gething|title=Welsh health minister insists he has not broken lockdown ruled|date=12 May 2020|work=]|access-date=25 February 2024}}</ref>


Gething was questioned at the UK Covid Inquiry in July 2023, about his former role as Wales' health minister during the Covid pandemic. Gething admitted that he had never read a report on Exercise Cygnus, a simulation exercise to estimate a hypothetical influenza pandemic's impact on the UK.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/politics/vaughan-gething-admits-never-read-27255588|title=Vaughan Gething admits he never read major report into how ready UK was for pandemic before Covid|date=4 July 2023|website=Wales Online|access-date=12 February 2024}}</ref> Gething was questioned at the ] 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 ], a simulation exercise to estimate the impact of a hypothetical ] on the UK population.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/politics/vaughan-gething-admits-never-read-27255588|title=Vaughan Gething admits he never read major report into how ready UK was for pandemic before Covid|date=4 July 2023|website=Wales Online|access-date=12 February 2024}}</ref>


===2024 Labour leadership election=== ===2024 Labour leadership election===

Revision as of 20:43, 17 March 2024

Welsh Labour politician, Member of the Senedd for Cardiff South and Penarth

Vaughan GethingMS
Official portrait, 2021
First Minister-designate of Wales
Assuming office
20 March 2024
MonarchCharles III
SucceedingMark Drakeford
Leader of Welsh Labour
Incumbent
Assumed office
16 March 2024
DeputyCarolyn Harris
Preceded byMark Drakeford
Minister for the Economy
Incumbent
Assumed office
13 May 2021
First MinisterMark Drakeford
Preceded byKen Skates
Minister for Health and Social Services
In office
19 May 2016 – 13 May 2021
First MinisterCarwyn Jones
Mark Drakeford
Preceded byMark Drakeford
Succeeded byEluned Morgan, Baroness Morgan of Ely
Deputy Minister for Health
In office
11 September 2014 – 19 May 2016
First MinisterCarwyn Jones
MinisterMark Drakeford
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byRebecca Evans
Deputy Minister for Tackling Poverty
In office
26 June 2013 – 11 September 2014
First MinisterCarwyn Jones
MinisterJeffrey Cuthbert
Member of the Senedd
for Cardiff South and Penarth
Incumbent
Assumed office
6 May 2011
Preceded byLorraine Barrett
Majority10,606 (29.2%)
Personal details
Born (1974-03-15) 15 March 1974 (age 50)
Lusaka, Zambia
NationalityWelsh
Political partyLabour Co-operative
SpouseMichelle Gething
Alma materUniversity of Wales
OccupationSolicitor, trade unionist
Signature
Websitewww.vaughangething.wales Edit this at Wikidata

Vaughan Gething (born 15 March 1974) is a Welsh Labour and Co-operative politician, serving as leader of Welsh Labour since 2024. He previously served as the Minister for Health and Social Services from 2016 to 2021. He has been the Member of the Senedd (MS) for Cardiff South and Penarth since 2011.

In March 2024, he won the Welsh Labour leadership election to replace Mark Drakeford and is set to become First Minister of Wales, which would make him the first Black person to hold the role, as well as the first Black leader of any European country.

Early life

Gething was born in Zambia in 1974, where his father, a white Welsh veterinarian from Ogmore-by-Sea in Glamorgan, met his mother, who is a Black Zambian and was working as a chicken farmer. Gething describes his father as "a white Welsh economic migrant". When he was two years old, he moved to Abergavenny in Monmouthshire, Wales, with his family, which also included three brothers and a sister. In Monmouthshire, his family experienced racism as an employer withdrew a job offer to Gething's father upon seeing the rest of his family. 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". His father eventually found work in Dorset, England, where Gething was brought up.

Gething studied at Beaminster Comprehensive and Sixth Form in Dorset, followed by Aberystwyth University, where he graduated with a degree in Law in 1999; he then attended the University of Cardiff Law School, University of Wales. During his academic career, Gething became President of Aberystwyth University Guild of Students, as well as the first Black president of the National Union of Students Wales.

Professional career

Having completed his training as a solicitor with the trade union firm Thompsons in Cardiff in 2001, Gething chose to specialise in employment law. He eventually became a partner in Thompsons in 2007.

In 2008, at the age of 34, Gething became the youngest President of Wales TUC, also becoming the first mixed race person to serve in the role.

Political career

A video of Gething representing the First Minister in a COVID-19 press conference in January 2021

Gething joined the Labour Party when he was 17, to campaign in the 1992 UK general election. He contested Mid and West Wales for Labour in the inaugural elections to the National Assembly for Wales in 1999, but was not elected.

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. 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. Campbell initially intended to have the vote re-examined in the High Court, but abandoned this because of the estimated cost of £12,000.

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 5 May 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. At the following 2016 election, Gething once again increased his majority in terms of vote share.

Following the 2016 election, First Minister Carwyn Jones promoted Gething to the Welsh Cabinet, nominating him as Cabinet Secretary for Health, Well-being and Sport.

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".

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.

Gething, alongside Eluned Morgan and Mark Drakeford, was one of the three contenders in the 2018 election for the leadership of Welsh Labour, but was defeated by the latter candidate. Drakeford subsequently re-appointed Gething in the Welsh Cabinet, by nominating him as Health Minister, with the position renamed as Minister for Health and Social Services.

On 13 May 2021, Gething was appointed as new Minister for the Economy, replacing Ken Skates.

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. On the following day, the Welsh Rugby Union announced that the match was officially cancelled. 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".

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?". Some undisclosed Labour MSs contacted by BBC Wales said they were also "very angry" over Gething's actions.

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.

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.

2024 Labour leadership election

Main article: 2024 Welsh Labour leadership election

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.

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. Miles claimed he was unfairly blocked from the union nomination. An unnamed Unite official was quoted by BBC News as saying that the nomination of Gething was a "shocking mess". Journalist Martin Shipton later uncovered that Gething had only joined Unite a few months beforehand.

On 16 March, it was announced that Gething had won the election with 51,7% of the vote: as a result, he would become the first Black First Minister of Wales, as well as the first Black leader of any European country.

Atlantic Recycling

In February 2024 it emerged that Gething had received a campaign donation of £200,000 from David John Neal, a businessman who had previously been convicted twice of environmental offences as head of two companies, Atlantic Recycling and Neal Soil Suppliers. Gething's ministerial colleague and Miles supporter, Lee Waters, described the donation as "completely unjustifiable and wrong".

The following month BBC Wales reported that it had obtained letters written by Gething in 2016 and 2018 to Natural Resources Wales requesting that it ease restrictions on Neal's company Atlantic Recycling. Former Welsh Government minister, Leighton Andrews, was quoted as saying that the donations were "damaging devolution" and called for Gething's campaign to return the donation of £200,000.

Personal life

Gething and his wife Michelle live in Penarth, where he has lived since 2011. He is a member of the trade unions GMB, UNISON and Unite.

External links

References

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Senedd
Preceded byLorraine Barrett Member of the Senedd for Cardiff South and Penarth
2011–present 		Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded byGwenda Thomas Deputy Minister for Health
2014–2016 		Succeeded byRebecca Evans
Preceded byMark Drakeford Minister for Health and Social Services
2016–2021
Preceded byEluned Morgan, Baroness Morgan of Ely
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Preceded byRuth Jones President of the Wales TUC
2008–2009 		Succeeded byPaul O'Shea
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