Vaughan Gething expected to be officially nominated as First Minister of Wales
Mark Drakeford had to fight back tears as he gave his final speech in the Welsh Parliament on Tuesday.
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Your support makes all the difference.Vaughan Gething is expected to be officially nominated as the next First Minister of Wales on Wednesday.
Welsh Labour members chose Mr Gething, 49, to be their next party leader on Saturday, succeeding Mark Drakeford, who had held the position since 2018.
The outgoing leader of the Welsh Labour government had to fight back tears as he gave his final speech in the Welsh Parliament on Tuesday.
The current minister for the economy, Mr Gething is expected to be declared the country’s fifth leader since the National Assembly for Wales, now called the Senedd, was established in 1999.
The Senedd will meet on Wednesday to choose a nominee. Any member of the Senedd can nominate another to be First Minister.
If only Mr Gething’s name is put forward he will be declared the nominee, but if more than one nomination is made then every member except for the Llywydd, or Presiding Officer, and the Deputy Presiding Officer, will vote for their preferred candidate by roll call.
The Senedd’s nominee will then be recommended to the King, who officially appoints the new first minister.
It comes after concerns were raised around £200,000 of donations to Mr Gething from a company which was found guilty of environmental offences in January.
Atlantic Recycling, which is part of Dauson Environmental Group and controlled by David Neal, gave Mr Gething £100,000 on December 18 2023 and £100,000 on January 11 2024.
Atlantic Recycling was also fined £300,000 over one of its worker’s deaths in February, after it pleaded guilty to breaching health and safety at work rules.
Last week the BBC said Mr Gething had lobbied regulators in favour of the company, asking Natural Resources Wales to ease restrictions on Atlantic Recycling in 2016.
Mr Gething and his team have always said the donation was declared in line with Senedd and Electoral Commission rules and that the minister is committed to transparency.
Mr Gething defended his decision to take the donation and said “everyone has lessons to learn”.