- Baroness Morgan elected Welsh Labour leader
- Senedd recalls to vote for first minister
- Gething resigned over campaign donation scandal
Baroness Eluned Morgan was elected Welsh Labour leader on Wednesday after running unopposed to replace Vaughan Gething; however, the assembly must vote on who becomes the first minister.
The Welsh parliament has been returned from its summer holiday so members can vote for a new first minister.
The Senedd (MS) members will have to return to Cardiff parliament on August 6 after health minister Baroness Eluned Morgan was elected Welsh Labour leader on Wednesday.
The Welsh Labour leadership contest was scheduled to last two months, ending after the summer break in September. Still, Baroness Morgan, 57, was the single competitor and elected leader without a campaign.
She is replacing Vaughan Gething, who resigned last week after a disagreement over campaign donations.
However, she only sometimes succeeds him as first minister; the entire Senedd must vote on who will become Wales’ next leader.
The Senedd adjourned for the summer break on Monday, but Mr Gething requested that MSs be recalled, and the presiding officer agreed.
Baroness Morgan is expected to be voted in as first minister because Labour has a majority in the Senedd.
She is Welsh Labour’s first female leader and is expected to become the country’s first female first minister.
Elin Jones MS, the Senedd’s Llywydd (Presiding Officer), stated: “I received a request from the first minister to recall the Senedd so that members might designate the next person to serve as Wales’ first minister.
“I agreed to the request and notified Members of the Senedd of the recall.
The Welsh Conservatives had earlier asked for the recall of the Senedd, expressing gratitude that it had “provided Wales with much-needed stability.”
The party’s leader, Andrew RT Davies, stated: Given the chaos that has overtaken the Labour administration in Cardiff Bay, you would have expected them to push this decision forward by implementing an early recall to provide Wales with stability.
Given the poor performance of Eluned Morgan as health minister, you would have expected her to want to get started right away by being voted first minister by the Senedd.
Vaughan Gething Scandal
Mr Gething made history in March by becoming the first black leader of a European country.
However, he was repeatedly questioned over a £200,000 gift to his leadership campaign from a corporation run by a man convicted twice of environmental crimes.
Critics argued that Mr Gething’s leadership campaign should not have accepted the money. Still, the first minister insisted that the payment was within the rules and was announced according to party tradition.
“Take a step towards financial freedom – claim your free Webull shares now!”
A feud erupted after he fired minister Hannah Blythyn for allegedly leaking phone texts. She denied the allegations, and a publication later claimed she was not their source.
Plaid Cymru backed out of its cooperation agreement with Mr Gething’s cabinet.
When he resigned, Mr Gething revealed information that he said supported his decision to fire Ms Blythyn. This included the fact that a screengrab of the leak did not include her initials, implying that it must have originated from her phone.
However, this occurred after the resignations of the ministers, making his position unsustainable.
