Profile: Who is Vaughan Gething the First Minister of Wales
Vaughan Gething made history in March when he became the first black leader of any European country.
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White House Correspondent
Vaughan Gething made history in March when he became the first black leader of any European country, succeeding Mark Drakeford as the First Minster of Wales.
He described his victory as “a matter of pride for a modern Wales but also a daunting responsibility for me – and one that I do not take lightly”.
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.
He rose to prominence as health minister throughout the Covid pandemic, a post he held from 2016 to 2021, before becoming economy minister.
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 has spoken openly about his experiences of prejudice and said in his leadership campaign he did not want anyone in Wales to feel that way.
When he was two, his family moved to Abergavenny in Monmouthshire, where his father was due to start a new job, but the offer was withdrawn when he arrived with a black family.
After his father lost his job in Abergavenny, the family moved to Dorset in England.
Mr Gething later studied law at Aberystwyth University and unsuccessfully stood for the Mid and West Wales seat at the first National Assembly elections in 1999, before becoming councillor for the Butetown area of Cardiff in 2004.
He stood for the Senedd elections again in 2011, when he successfully took the Cardiff South and Penarth Seat.
He previously ran for the Labour leadership and first minister position in 2018, when he lost to Mr Drakeford.
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