LONDON (AP) – Vaughan Gething is expected to win the Welsh Labor leadership race on Saturday, becoming the first black leader of Wales’ semi-autonomous government.
Mr Gething, the son of a Welsh father and a Zambian mother, becomes the first black leader of a government in Britain, and by some definitions, in a European country.
“Today we turn the page in this country’s history book. A history we will build together,” Gething said in his victory speech. “Not only because I have the honor of being the first black leader of a European country, but because I am also jumping a generational line.
“I would like to use this moment as a starting point to move towards the future with more confidence,” he added.
Mr Gething, who is currently Wales’ Economy Minister, narrowly defeated Education Secretary Jeremy Miles in the race to replace First Minister Mark Drakeford. Mr Drakeford, 69, announced late last year that he would step down once his replacement was named.
Mr Gething, 50, won 51.7% of the vote from party members and affiliated trade unions, while Mr Miles received 48.3%.
If confirmed by the Welsh Assembly Senedd, in which Labor is the largest party, on Wednesday, Mr Gething will become the fifth first-time minister since the Welsh National Assembly was established in 1999.
Mr Gething’s appointment will mean three of Britain’s four governments will be led by non-white people. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is of Indian descent, and Scottish Prime Minister Humza Yousaf was born into a British Pakistani family.
Northern Ireland is jointly led by Michelle O’Neill and Emma Littlepengelly, making it the first country in the UK to have no white male head of government.
British, Scottish, Irish and London leaders now become South Asian heritage https://t.co/DtFHXqqLGD
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) March 28, 2023
Wales has a population of approximately 3 million people and is one of the four countries that make up the United Kingdom, along with England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. The British government in London is responsible for defence, foreign affairs and other UK-wide issues, while the administrations in Cardiff, Edinburgh and Belfast have jurisdiction over areas such as education and health.
Mr Gething served as Wales’ health minister during the coronavirus pandemic, but as economy minister he was dealing with the impact of Tata Steel’s plans to close both blast furnaces at its Port Talbot plant. 2,800 jobs will be lost at one of Wales’ largest employers.
He will take over a government that has often been at odds with Sunak’s London Conservative government. Wales is experiencing a wave of protests by farmers over environmental regulations, similar to those that have roiled France and other European countries.
Mr Gething was the favorite to win the competition, but it was revealed that he had accepted £200,000 (about $255,000) in donations from a recycling company that had been convicted of environmental crimes and breaches of health and safety regulations. The camp was shaken.
Gething said the donations were properly declared under election rules.
Big Government bans supermarkets from selling ‘non-essential goods’ in Wales during lockdown https://t.co/ASSPlO1gJY
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) October 24, 2020
