Vaughan Gething Set to Make History as First Minister of Wales
Vaughan Gething has been elected as the new leader of the Welsh Labour Party and is set to take over as the first minister of Wales from Mark Drakeford next week. According to Welsh Labour, Gething won 51.7% of the votes while his rival, Jeremy Miles, took 48.3%. The overall turnout was 16.1%, with 57.8% of members and 9.4% of affiliates voting in the election. The result was announced at Cardiff University on Saturday morning.
Once he assumes the role of first minister, Gething will be Wales’s fifth leader since the establishment of the National Assembly in 1999. Born in Zambia in 1974 to a Welsh vet and a chicken farmer, Gething moved to the UK with his family at a young age.
Having previously served as a councillor in Cardiff and winning a seat in the Senedd elections in 2011, Gething ran for the top job once before in 2018 against Mark Drakeford. Addressing Labour’s members after his victory, Gething spoke about the historic moment of becoming the first black leader in any European country and emphasized his commitment to Welsh solutions for Welsh issues and opportunities.
While Gething’s election has been met with congratulations from various leaders, concerns have been raised about campaign donations he received from a company with environmental violations. Despite these challenges, opposition parties are prepared to work with him for the betterment of Wales.
