Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 11:29, 24 May 2024

The Right HonourableVaughan GethingMS
Official portrait, 2021
First Minister of Wales
Incumbent
Assumed office 20 March 2024
Monarch	Charles III
Preceded by	Mark Drakeford
Leader of Welsh Labour
Incumbent
Assumed office 16 March 2024
Deputy	Carolyn Harris
Preceded by	Mark Drakeford
Minister for the Economy
In office 13 May 2021 – 20 March 2024
First Minister	Mark Drakeford
Preceded by	Ken Skates
Succeeded by	Jeremy Miles
Minister for Health and Social Services
In office 19 May 2016 – 13 May 2021
First Minister	Carwyn Jones Mark Drakeford
Preceded by	Mark Drakeford
Succeeded by	Eluned Morgan, Baroness Morgan of Ely
Deputy Minister for Health
In office 11 September 2014 – 19 May 2016
First Minister	Carwyn Jones
Minister	Mark Drakeford
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Rebecca Evans
Deputy Minister for Tackling Poverty
In office 26 June 2013 – 11 September 2014
First Minister	Carwyn Jones
Minister	Jeffrey Cuthbert
Member of the Senedd for Cardiff South and Penarth
Incumbent
Assumed office 6 May 2011
Preceded by	Lorraine Barrett
Majority	10,606 (29.2%)
Personal details
Born	1974 (age 49–50) Lusaka, Zambia
Nationality	Welsh
Political party	Labour and Co-operative
Spouse	Michelle Gething
Alma mater	Aberystwyth University University of Cardiff
Occupation	Solicitor, trade unionist
Signature
Website	www.vaughangething.wales

Humphrey Vaughan ap David Gething (born 1974) is a Welsh Labour and Co-operative Party 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.

In March 2024, Gething won the Welsh Labour leadership election to replace Mark Drakeford and become First Minister of Wales, making him the first Mixed Race person to run Wales.

Early life

Humphrey Vaughan ap David 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 when 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 black person to serve in the role.

Political career

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 was relected.

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

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, thus becoming the leader of Welsh Labour and would be the new First Minister of Wales.

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. One of Gething's ministerial colleagues, Lee Waters (who supported Miles in the Welsh Labour election), described the donation as "completely unjustifiable and wrong".

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, which Gething refused to do.

First minister (2024–present)

Gething was officially nominated as First Minister by the Senedd on 20 March 2024, and announced his cabinet the following day. In the process, he became the first Black First Minister of Wales, as well as the first Black leader of any European country.

His appointment to His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council was announced on 28 March 2024 as part of the 2024 Special Honours.

During the inquiry into the COVID-19 Pandemic response, Gething stated that he had not deliberately deleted any messages from his phone. 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 and I think we are all in the right place on the choice being made." 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'. 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. She denied this. Blythyn was replaced by Sarah Murphy on 17 May 2024.

On 17 May 2024, Rhun ap Iorwerth announced that Plaid Cymru had withdrawn from the co-operation agreement with Welsh Labour, 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." 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."

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

• Official website
• Biography – Senedd website

References

1. "Lib Dem Williams named in new cabinet". BBC News. 19 May 2016. Archived from the original on 2 November 2019. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
2. "Lewis named as education minister". BBC News. 26 June 2013. Archived from the original on 4 December 2019. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
3. Davies, Daniel (9 November 2018). "Welsh Labour's mystery runners?". BBC News. Archived from the original on 27 May 2019. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
4. "Who is Vaughan Gething, Wales' next first minister?". BBC News. 16 March 2024. Archived from the original on 19 March 2024. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
5. ^ Owen, Paul (3 August 2009). "Black Welshman aims to take the fight to the BNP". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 7 September 2013. Retrieved 12 May 2011.
6. ^ Harri, Guto (31 October 2018). "Vaughan Gething wants to be Welsh Labour's Sadiq Khan". British GQ. Archived from the original on 7 August 2020. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
7. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 17 March 2024. Retrieved 17 March 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
8. "Alumni at the Senedd". Aberystwyth University. Archived from the original on 26 September 2020. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
9. ^ "Vaughan Gething Assembly selection 2011" (PDF). Welsh Labour. 2011. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 September 2011. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
10. "About Vaughan – Vaughan Gething MS | Cardiff South & Penarth". Vaughan Gething MS | Cardiff South & Penarth. Archived from the original on 20 September 2020. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
11. Crecsi, Elena (15 March 2013). "From student unions to the Senedd and Westminster, how do today's youth become tomorrow's AMs and MPs?". Wales Online. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
12. ^ "Morgan urges Labour to hold firm". BBC News. 23 May 2008. Archived from the original on 17 March 2024. Retrieved 12 May 2011.
13. Gething, Vaughan (28 October 2018). "Vaughan Gething: In Black History Month, I'm proud to be supported by BAME Labour". LabourList. Archived from the original on 31 October 2020. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
14. "Mid and West Wales". BBC News. Archived from the original on 2 March 2023. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
15. "Vaughan Gething-about". Vaughan Gething. 2011. Archived from the original on 30 June 2011. Retrieved 12 May 2011.
16. "'He broke the rules'". WalesOnline. 24 June 2004. Archived from the original on 12 February 2024. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
17. "Police confirm probe over dirty tricks claim". WalesOnline. 14 October 2004. Archived from the original on 13 February 2024. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
18. "Wales elections > Cardiff South and Penarth". BBC News. 6 May 2011. Archived from the original on 9 May 2011. Retrieved 12 May 2011.
19. Blake, Aled (6 May 2011). "Assembly election: Meet the incoming AMs". WalesOnline website. Media Wales Ltd. Archived from the original on 14 October 2012. Retrieved 12 May 2011.
20. "Cardiff South and Penarth - Welsh Assembly constituency - Election 2016 - BBC News". Retrieved 17 May 2024.
21. "Welsh Government | Vaughan Gething AM". gov.wales. Archived from the original on 13 November 2017. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
22. "General election: 'Doesn't matter if I'm a Corbyn fan'". BBC News. 19 May 2017. Archived from the original on 6 October 2021. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
23. "Owen Smith to challenge Corbyn for Labour leadership". The Guardian. 13 July 2016. Archived from the original on 16 July 2016. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
24. "Health Secretary walks away from questions over calls for inquiry into health board's actions". ITV. 24 August 2017. Archived from the original on 12 February 2024. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
25. "Wales' new first minister Mark Drakeford appoints his team". BBC News. 13 December 2018. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
26. "Wales election: New health and education ministers in reshuffle". BBC News. 12 May 2021. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
27. "Wales v Scotland Six Nations match ON despite rise in coronavirus cases, Welsh health minister says". WalesOnline. 12 March 2020. Archived from the original on 12 February 2024. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
28. "Welsh health minister who said Wales v Scotland was ON speaks for first time". 15 March 2020. Archived from the original on 13 February 2024. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
29. "Wales match was hours from becoming super spreader amid chaos behind scenes". 12 March 2021. Archived from the original on 13 February 2024. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
30. ^ "Coronavirus: Welsh health minister caught swearing about Labour AM". BBC News. 22 April 2020. Archived from the original on 22 April 2020. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
31. Waterson, Jim; Hern, Alex (22 April 2020). "Welsh minister's mic mistake broadcasts sweary rant to assembly". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 17 March 2024. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
32. "Welsh health minister insists he has not broken lockdown ruled". The Guardian. 12 May 2020. Archived from the original on 26 February 2024. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
33. "Vaughan Gething admits he never read major report into how ready UK was for pandemic before Covid". Wales Online. 4 July 2023. Archived from the original on 12 February 2024. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
34. "Jeremy Miles officially joins race to succeed Mark Drakeford as Labour leader in Wales". Sky News. 18 December 2023. Archived from the original on 26 December 2023. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
35. "Welsh Labour leadership: Jeremy Miles criticises Unite rule". BBC News. 27 January 2024. Archived from the original on 10 February 2024. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
36. "Welsh Labour leadership contender claims he was unfairly blocked from union nomination". ITV. 26 January 2024. Archived from the original on 12 February 2024. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
37. "Welsh Labour leadership nomination a shocking mess – Unite official". BBC News. 29 January 2024. Archived from the original on 12 February 2024. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
38. "Vaughan Gething only joined 'stitch-up' union months ago". Nation.cymru. 29 January 2024. Archived from the original on 12 February 2024. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
39. ^ Browne, Adrian; Deans, David (16 March 2024). "Welsh Labour leadership: Vaughan Gething to be Wales' next first minister". BBC News. Archived from the original on 15 March 2024. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
40. ^ Morris, Steven (16 March 2024). "Vaughan Gething to become Welsh first minister after Labour leadership win". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 16 March 2024. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
41. ^ "Gwent Levels waste dumping: David John Neal pleads guilty". BBC News. 21 February 2024. Archived from the original on 22 February 2024. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
42. ^ "Vaughan Gething accepts £200k from environmental offender's company". BBC News. 21 February 2024. Archived from the original on 29 February 2024. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
43. "Vaughan Gething helped donor's waste offence company". BBC News. 12 March 2024. Archived from the original on 13 March 2024. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
44. ^ Grey, Jack (17 March 2024). "Vaughan Gething rejects calls to return £200k donation". BBC News. Archived from the original on 18 March 2024. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
45. "Plenary 20/03/2024". Welsh Parliament. 20 March 2024. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
46. ^ Cassidy, Maria; Shuttleworth, Peter (20 March 2024). "Vaughan Gething appointed Wales' first minister". BBC News. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
47. Mosalski, Ruth (21 March 2024). "Live updates as Vaughan Gething confirms his cabinet appointments in first full day in Wales' top job". WalesOnline. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
48. Browne, Adrian (21 March 2024). "New First Minister Vaughan Gething announces cabinet". BBC News. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
49. "Privy Council appointment: March 2024" (PDF). GOV.UK. 28 March 2024. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
50. ^ Mansfield, Mark (7 May 2024). "Vaughan Gething misled UK Covid Inquiry by not admitting he deleted messages". Nation.Cymru. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
51. Mosalski, Ruth (7 May 2024). "Vaughan Gething denies 'obnoxious' claim he committed perjury at Covid inquiry". Wales Online. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
52. Mosalski, Ruth (16 May 2024). "Vaughan Gething sacks member of cabinet over leak". Wales Online. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
53. "I am deeply shocked and saddened by what has happened today. I am clear and have been clear that I did not, nor have I ever leaked anything. Integrity is all in politics and I retain mine. 1/2 🧵". X (formerly Twitter). Retrieved 17 May 2024.
54. Price, Emily (17 May 2024). "Sarah Murphy replaces sacked junior minister Hannah Blythyn". Nation.Cymru. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
55. Hayward, Will (17 May 2024). "Plaid Cymru pulls out of deal to support Labour in the Senedd". Wales Online. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
56. ^ Mansfield, Mark (17 May 2024). "Plaid Cymru pulls out of Co-operation Agreement with the Welsh Government". Nation.Cymru. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
57. "Vaughan Gething-about". Vaughan Gething. 2011. Archived from the original on 30 June 2011. Retrieved 12 May 2011.
58. "Vaughan Gething AM: Minister for Health and Social Services". GOV.WALES. Archived from the original on 15 November 2019. Retrieved 6 November 2019.

• 1974 births
• Living people
• 21st-century Welsh lawyers
• Alumni of the University of Wales
• Black British politicians
• Councillors in Cardiff
• Labour Co-operative members of the Senedd
• Politicians from Cardiff
• Politicians from Dorset
• Wales AMs 2011–2016
• Wales MSs 2016–2021
• Wales MSs 2021–2026
• Welsh people of Zambian descent
• Zambian emigrants to the United Kingdom
• Zambian people of Welsh descent
• Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom