What led to Vaughan Gething resigning as Welsh First Minister?

Mr Gething is quitting after four members of his government resigned and demanded he left office.

Vaughan Gething is resigning as First Minister of Wales (Chris Jackson/PA) (PA Wire)

Vaughan Gething has quit as Welsh First Minister after four members of his government resigned and demanded he left office.

Here, the PA news agency looks at the key issues surrounding his departure.

– Who is First Minister Vaughan Gething?

Vaughan Gething made history on March 20 this year when he became the first black leader of any European country, succeeding Mark Drakeford as the First Minster of Wales.

Mr Gething was born in Zambia in 1974 where his father, a Welsh vet from Ogmore-by-Sea in Glamorgan, met his mother, a chicken farmer.

He joined the Labour Party at 17 to help campaign in the 1992 elections. He has been in the Senedd since 2011 and in the cabinet since 2016.

Before becoming First Minister, he rose to prominence as health minister during the Covid pandemic, a post he held from 2016 to 2021, when he became economy minister.

– Why has he resigned?

Just four months after he was elected to Wales’ highest political position, Mr Gething said he has “taken the difficult decision to begin the process of stepping down”.

This comes after a series of controversies which have followed Mr Gething throughout his tenure, ending in four Welsh Government ministers resigning in protest over his leadership on Tuesday morning.

In a defiant message, he has denied any wrongdoing: “My integrity matters. I have not compromised it. I regret that the burden of proof is no longer an important commodity in the language of our politics.”

– Which ministers resigned in protest?

Mick Antoniw, Julie James, Lesley Griffiths and Jeremy Miles resigned, posting separate letters on social media in close succession.

This means Mr Gething lost the support of the counsel general, housing minister, culture and social justice secretary, and economy secretary.

All four ministers blamed Mr Gething’s leadership for their resignations, with Mr Miles stating “we cannot continue like this” in his letter.

He added: “The events of the last few months, including your loss of the confidence vote in the Senedd, have been incredibly painful.

“It’s essential that we begin to repair the damage immediately, and I have reached the conclusion very regrettably that this cannot happen under your leadership.”

Ms Griffiths said “relationships have fractured” and argued that this is impacting on the Senedd members’ ability to deliver for Wales.

She added: “We simply will not be able to put things back on track under your leadership.”

Meanwhile, Ms James told the First Minister she fears Welsh devolution will be at risk if he continues in the role.

In her letter, Ms James said: “This cannot be what you wanted and must have caused you and your family a lot of pain, and I think has visibly caused huge divisions in the group and damaged both the country and the party.

“I think it also now threatens the continued existence of the devolution journey itself.”

Mr Antoniw said that Wales needs a “confident and stable” government, adding: “I do not believe you are capable of delivering that.”

– How did we get here?

Since Mr Gething was elected in March, his career as First Minister has been plagued by scandals, including a controversial £200,000 donation he accepted while campaigning to be leader.

His decision to accept the sizeable donation from the Dauson Environmental Group, which is owned by David Neal, who has previously been convicted of environmental offences, was heavily criticised by opposition members and calls were made for an independent investigation.

There have also been concerns about a possible conflict of interest in the money coming from a company which was loaned £400,000 by the Welsh government-owned Development Bank of Wales (DBW).

Mr Gething has insisted he followed the rules and rejected the calls for an independent investigation, instead saying there would be an internal Labour review of the party’s election processes.

In May, Mr Gething was hit with another controversy when he sacked former minister for social partnership Hannah Blythyn, after messages from the Covid pandemic were leaked to the website Nation.Cymru.

The leaked messages showed Mr Gething claiming he would delete all correspondence from an iMessage group of Welsh ministers.

Ms Blythyn, who represents Delyn, said she could “look all my colleagues who sit on these benches in the eye” and say she had not leaked to the media.

And last week, Nation.Cymru came out and insisted Ms Blythyn was not the source of the leak which triggered her sacking.

Mr Gething has since said he has “never tried to claim” she was the direct source and insisted that evidence showed messages given to Nation.Cymru came from her phone.

Later in May, Plaid Cymru ended its co-operation deal with Labour in the Senedd after party leader Rhun ap Iorwerth said he was “deeply concerned” about the donations Mr Gething had accepted during his leadership campaign.

In June, Mr Gething lost a vote of no confidence in the Senedd but insisted he would not resign.

And finally, on Monday Mr Miles refused to say he had confidence in Mr Gething during an interview with ITV.

– What happens now?

Mr Gething will be replaced by another Labour member of the Senedd.

Mr Miles, who ran against Mr Gething for the Welsh Labour leadership and narrowly missed out on the role, is a likely candidate to replace him.