Vaughan Gething has won the Welsh Labour leadership election, paving the way for him to become Wales’ first black First Minister following a contest decided by Labour party members and affiliated organisations this month, DailyMail reports.
According to the report by DailyMail, Mr Vaughan Gething, who turned 50 on Friday, will officially become First Minister next week, deposing incumbent leader Mark Drakeford, who has been in the role since 2018 and announced plans to resign late last year.
In a historic result, the economy minister and former solicitor, who was born in Zambia, will become the country’s fifth leader since the National Assembly for Wales, now called the Senedd, was established in 1999.
Mr Gething was also the first black person to become a cabinet minister in one of the United Kingdom’s devolved governments, and acknowledged in his victory speech he would become the first Black leader in any European country.
The father of one grew up in Dorset and was educated at the Welsh universities of Aberystwyth and Cardiff. He previously served as Deputy Minister for Tackling Poverty, Deputy Minister for Health and Minister for Health and Social Services through the pandemic.
Election results were announced in Cardiff shortly after 10am on Saturday after voting closed Thursday, in polls inviting only Labour members and linked groups, like trade unions, to vote.
Mr Gething, who overcame competition from education minister Jeremy Miles, had the backing of most of the large unions and Lord Kinnock, who led the UK party from 1983 to 1992.
Welsh Labour said Vaughan Gething achieved 51.7% of the vote compared to rival Jeremy Miles with 48.3%.
In total, 57.8% of members voted and 9.4% of affiliates, giving an overall turnout of 16.1%.
As Mr Gething was elected, he took time to praise his predecessor and competitor.
He thanked Mr Drakeford for his role in making Wales feel ‘safer’ at the ‘hardest of times’ during the pandemic, and said he hoped he would remain ‘firm friends’ with Mr Miles ‘once the dust has settled’.
Mr Gething worked with Mr Drakeford as Minister for Health and Social Services between 2016 and 2021, including the pandemic years.
Mr Gething added that Mr Miles’ campaigning, ‘the story that you have told, the example that you have set’, had set new precedent for the future of Welsh politics.
He referenced Mr Miles’ past comments that as a gay man he used to ‘wonder if there was a place in the world for someone like me’ while growing up in a working-class family in a mining community.
In his victory speech, Mr Gething noted he would become not only the first Black first minister in Wales, but also in Europe.
While acknowledging the work of Mark Drakeford before him, he spoke of the long journey ahead and the challenge of ‘division’ to overcome.
Addressing Labour’s membership, Mr Gething said: ‘Today we turn the page in the book of our nation’s history.
‘A history that we write together.
‘Not just because I have the honour of becoming the first black leader in any European country, but because the generational dial has jumped too.
‘Devolution is not something that I have had to get used to or adapt to or apologise for.
‘Devolution – Welsh solutions to Welsh problems and opportunities – is in my blood, it’s what I’ve always known through my adult political life, and that is the same for a growing number of our citizens.
‘I want us to use this moment as a starting point, for a more confident march into the future.’
‘Friends, let’s get to work,’ he concluded, before going to join his wife Michelle and son Isaac in the Cardiff University Spark building.
Mr Gething will face immediate challenges in Wales’ health system, strained by record waiting and response times.
He will also be pressed to provide lasting solutions to Wales’ industrial challenges, including the decline of heavy industry, mass redundancies at Port Talbot and the transition to a green economy.
Supporters hope his experiences as former Health Minister and as Economy Minister will position him as an informed and well-connected leader.
But the leadership race has not been without controversy, most of which has centred on Mr Gething.
There have been a string of concerns raised around £200,000 of donations to Mr Gething from a company which was found guilty of environmental offences in January.
Atlantic Recycling, which is part of Dauson Environmental Group and controlled by David Neal, gave Mr Gething £100,000 on December 18 2023 and £100,000 on January 11 2024.
Atlantic Recycling was also fined £300,000 for one of its worker’s deaths in February after it pleaded guilty to breaching health and safety at work rules.
Earlier this week the BBC revealed that Mr Gething had lobbied regulators in favour of the company, asking Natural Resources Wales to ease restrictions on Atlantic Recycling in 2016.
Mr Vaughan Gething and his team have always insisted the donation was declared in line with Senedd and Electoral Commission rules and that the minister is committed to transparency.