Eluned Morgan is set to become the leader of Welsh Labour and the first minister of Wales — the first woman to serve in either role.

Morgan, a former European lawmaker who is currently Wales’ Cabinet secretary for health, ran unopposed after securing the endorsement of at least 26 of Labour’s 30 members of the Welsh parliament (Senedd) for her candidacy.

The current first minister, Vaughan Gething, needs to officially resign and Morgan needs to be formally confirmed as first minister in a vote in the Senedd. The parliament is currently in its summer recess, and some members may be on holiday, complicating this effort.

Morgan ran in a joint bid with Rural Affairs Secretary Huw Irranca-Davies, who will become her deputy. At the previous leadership election earlier this year, Morgan and Irranca-Davies had backed different candidates, but this time around said they would collaborate in a “joint unity ticket.”

“I am truly honoured to become the first woman to lead Welsh Labour and to be put forward as our party’s nominee to become the next first minister of Wales,” Morgan said in a statement.

The new Welsh leader entered the Senedd in 2016 after serving as a member of the European Parliament between 1994 and 2009. At the time of her first election, she was the Parliament’s youngest MEP, aged 27. In the Parliament, she became the spokesperson for the Socialist group on budget control matters and frequently raised the issue of fuel poverty.

The incoming first minister has already been a trailblazer as only the fifth women in the history of Wales to be elected to a full-time political position and the first to have a baby in office.

Gething controversy

The new leader succeeds Gething, who resigned after four Cabinet ministers stood down from his government in protest at his leadership. Gething was appointed Wales’ first minister only in March, with the landmark achievement of becoming the first Black head of government in Europe.

His premiership was dogged by rows and internal divisions. Gething sacked Hannah Blythyn as social partnership minister after accusing her of leaking text messages to the media, something she denied. The media organization in question, Nation.Cymru, also confirmed Blythyn was not their source.

Gething was also dogged by accepting £200,000 in donations from a company owned by a man previously convicted of environmental offenses, money he declined to hand back.

The sacking prompted a vote of no confidence in Gething which he lost by 29 votes to 27.

While the chaos did not affect Welsh Labour’s performance at the general election earlier this month, winning 27 out of the nation’s 32 constituencies, Gething later realized the game was up, saying last week: “Having been elected as leader of my party in March, I had hoped that over the summer a period of reflection, rebuilding and renewal could take place under my leadership,” adding: “I recognize now that this is not possible.”

Morgan, who was involved in the campaign for a devolved assembly in 1997, previously ran for the Welsh Labour leadership in 2018, coming third to Gething’s predecessor Mark Drakeford, while Gething himself came second.

As health secretary, Morgan faced long NHS waiting lists, a subject likely to continue to dominate her time as first minister. Similarly, she’ll be involved in rolling back the unpopular 20 miles per hour (mph) speed limit to 30 mph.

Electorally, Labour has governed Wales since the introduction of Welsh devolution in 1999. Assembly elections take place in 2026 as Welsh nationalist party Plaid Cymru and Nigel Farage’s right-wing Reform UK both hope to capitalize on the party’s recent pitfalls.

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the result is “fantastic news for Wales and for the Labour Party.”

“Eluned brings with her a wealth of experience and track-record of delivery, and as the first woman to lead Welsh Labour, she is already making history,” he said.

Politico

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