News Americas, New York, NY, July 17, 2024: Vaughan Gething, the first African born leader of Wales’ government and First Minister, announced his resignation on Tuesday following the departure of several government members over a campaign donation scandal.
Wales First Minister , African-born Wales Vaughan Gething, seen here giving a speech during King Charles III and Queen Camilla visit to the Senedd in Cardiff, to mark its 25th anniversary on July 11, 2024 in Cardiff, Wales, resigned on July 16, 2024. (Photo by Ben Birchall – WPA Pool/Getty Images)
Gething, 50, who was born in Zambia but grew up in the UK from age 17, stated, “I have this morning taken the difficult decision to begin the process of stepping down as leader of the Welsh Labour Party and, as a result, First Minister.”
The resignation follows the departure of four members from Gething’s semiautonomous government who demanded his resignation.
In March, Gething, born to a Welsh father and a Zambian mother, made history by becoming the first Black leader of a government in the U.K. and first in a European nation, after being elected by Welsh lawmakers to head the Cardiff-based administration.
His tenure has been marred by controversy after he received 200,000 pounds ($255,000) in donations from a recycling company whose owner was previously convicted of environmental offenses and breaching health and safety regulations. Additionally, another company owned by the same individual received a loan from the government-owned Development Bank of Wales in 2023 while Gething served as economy minister.
Gething’s leadership further weakened when the Welsh nationalist party Plaid Cymru ended its cooperation with his minority Labour government in April.
Relations within his party also deteriorated after Gething dismissed government minister Hannah Blythyn, accusing her of leaking private phone messages about the COVID-19 pandemic to the media, an allegation Blythyn denies.
Despite losing a nonbinding no-confidence vote in the Senedd, Wales’ parliament, in June, Gething initially insisted on staying in his role.
In his resignation statement, Gething expressed his hope that “over the summer a period of reflection, rebuilding, and renewal could take place under my leadership.” However, he acknowledged, “I recognize that this is not possible.”
Gething denied any wrongdoing, asserting, “My integrity matters. I have not compromised it.”
Wales, with a population of about 3 million, is one of the four parts of the United Kingdom, alongside England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. While the British government in London handles defense, foreign affairs, and other U.K.-wide issues, administrations in Cardiff, Edinburgh, and Belfast manage areas such as education and health.
Gething’s father, a white Welsh veterinarian from Ogmore-by-Sea in Glamorgan, met his mother, a Black Zambian working as a chicken farmer. Gething describes his father as “a white Welsh economic migrant.” At the age of two, he moved with his family, including three brothers and a sister, to Abergavenny in Monmouthshire, Wales. In Monmouthshire, his family experienced racism when an employer with drew a job offer to Gething’s father after seeing the rest of the family. Recalling the incident, Gething said, “They said, ‘Come back with your family and we’ll sign everything up’, but he walked in with my mother, and a trail of brown boys, and the job offer got withdrawn.” His father eventually found work in Dorset, England, where Gething was raised.
Gething attended Beaminster Comprehensive and Sixth Form in Dorset before studying law at Aberystwyth University, graduating in 1999. He then attended Cardiff Law School at the University of Wales. During his academic career, Gething served as President of Aberystwyth University Guild of Students and became the first Black president of the National Union of Students Wales.
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