By Will Hazell
Vaughan Gething has been announced as the next First Minister of Wales, becoming the first black politician to lead a European country.
His victory in the Welsh Labour leadership election means that, for the first time since devolution began in the late 1990s, none of the UK nations will be led by a white male.
Humza Yousaf, the Scottish First Minister, is the son of first-generation immigrants from Pakistan, while Northern Ireland is led by a female first minister and deputy first minister, Michelle O’Neill and Emma Little-Pengelly.
Gething, currently minister for the economy, beat Jeremy Miles, the education minister, winning 51.7 per cent of the vote.
In his acceptance speech on Saturday, he said: “Today we turn a page in the book of our nation’s history – not just because I have the honour of becoming the first black leader in any European country, but because a generational dial has jumped too.
“Devolution is not something 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 have always known through my adult political life.”
Vaughan Gething celebrates with his wife Michelle and son Isaac as he is announced as the fifth First Minister of Wales on Saturday – Matthew Horwood/Getty Images
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 about his experiences of racism, saying in his campaign that he did not want anyone in Wales to suffer prejudice.
When he was two, his family moved to Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, where his father had been due to start a new job, but the offer was withdrawn when he arrived with a black family.
The family moved to Dorset, and Gething later returned to Wales to study law at Aberystwyth University, becoming a solicitor. He has been a member of the Senedd since 2011.
Congratulating Gething on his appointment, Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, said: “I am committed to working together constructively, with a relentless focus on growing the Welsh economy and levelling up communities.”
Yousaf said: “What an incredible achievement to become the first black leader of a European country.”
Gething, who was health minister during the Covid pandemic, paid tribute to Mark Drakeford, the departing First Minister, describing him as “the right leader at the right time in the pandemic” and adding: “We will be forever in his debt.”
Drakeford said his successor would “provide the next generation of leadership for the party”.
Mark Drakeford will formally resign as First Minister on Tuesday, March 19 – Matthew Horwood/Getty Images
Turning his attention to the general election, due later this year, Gething said: “I know that we can win. We can win if we stand together, linking arms to defeat the narrow forces of division that seek to make a warm nation turn cold. That only happens if we sweep the Tories out of office and send Sir Keir Starmer into Number 10.”
Labour has been in power in Cardiff since the creation of the Welsh Assembly in 1999, but is facing difficulties on a number of fronts, including criticism of a 20mph speed limit policy, long waits for NHS treatment and protests by farmers against green subsidy plans.
Gething said last month that the Welsh Government had “got some of the communication side wrong” on the 20mph default speed limit in built-up areas.
Sir Keir said: “Huge congratulations to Vaughan Gething on his election as leader of the Welsh Labour Party. His appointment as First Minister of Wales, the first black leader in the UK, will be an historic moment that speaks to the progress and values of modern-day Wales.
“With his many years of experience in the Senedd, I know he will lead a hopeful, ambitious Welsh Labour government in the face of a tired and failed Tory government in Westminster.”
Drakeford formally resigned as First Minister on Tuesday, March 19, and the Senedd elected its new First Minister on Wednesday, March 20.
