Vaughan Gething ‘much, much better person’ than portrayed, former FM says

The former First Minister of Wales has defended Vaughan Gething – who announced he would resign after just four months in the post – as “a much, much better person than he has been portrayed”.

Mark Drakeford, who served as Welsh Labour leader and First Minister between 2018 and 2024, was speaking following months of scandals and bitter infighting that led to Mr Gething’s resignation on Tuesday.

He told BBC Walescast that there was “a great deal of goodwill available” to First Minister Mr Gething when he took office in March – becoming the first black leader of a European nation.

But Mr Drakeford acknowledged the “fuse was lit” when Mr Gething accepted a £200,000 donation to his leadership campaign from a company owned by a man twice convicted of environmental offences.

Last month, Mr Gething lost a vote of no confidence in the Senedd following rows over the donation, and his decision to sack Hannah Blythyn as a minister.

Speaking to Walescast, Mr Drakeford said Mr Gething had “immense sadness” that matters had not worked out “in the way he absolutely would have hoped and had a right to expect”.

Mr Drakeford said on Thursday night: “My own observation at a bit of a distance was that there was a great deal of goodwill available to him in the earliest days.

“I think people were absolutely proud to have the first black leader anywhere in Europe, here in Wales.

“I think there are many ways in which you can explain how things went wrong and how things eventually got to a point where he was unable to carry on, but I think all of that will be something that people look back on beyond this weekend.”

Mr Drakeford was asked whether Mr Gething’s leadership rival Jeremy Miles – one of four ministers who resigned from Mr Gething’s cabinet and called for him to quit on Tuesday – could have initially done more to unify the Welsh Labour group.

He replied: “I myself don’t believe that. I think in those early days there was an enormous amount of goodwill, people who hadn’t supported Vaughan joined his cabinet and were willing to take up important positions and be part of the government.”

Mr Miles had said he would not have taken the £200,000 donation from Dauson Environmental Group, which is owned by David Neal, who has twice been convicted of environmental offences.

Speaking to Walescast, Mr Drakeford said Mr Miles had been asked a direct question about the donation and would not have been able to avoid answering it.

He added: “In a way, the trail that eventually led to last week did begin right back there. With that original decision, the fuse was lit in a way, and Vaughan was never able to escape it.

“And that’s very, very unfair but I’m afraid in political life fairness isn’t always the way things are navigated.”

Mr Drakeford described how Mr Gething was “constantly under the cosh”.

He said concerns about Mr Gething’s decisions were not brought up at “every single group meeting” but would regularly feature due to “regularly being raised on the floor of the Senedd”.

Mr Drakeford added: “I think it can fairly be laid at Vaughan’s door that mistakes were made.

“He would defend them and he would explain why he made the decisions he made, but the criticism that mistakes were made is, I think, a legitimate one.

“It’s when that shades into accusations that these weren’t just mistakes, but these were somehow dishonest mistake, or mistakes done due to someone’s lack of integrity in office.

“That I think is completely unfair. Vaughan is a much, much better person than he has been portrayed in newspaper outlets and in some of the commentary around him.

“I have worked right alongside him over that decade. He is a thoughtful, committed, hardworking individual who tries to do his best.”

Mr Drakeford said there was a “big difference” between criticising Mr Gething’s judgments and accusing him of somehow not being fit to be first minister.

Plaid Cymru called for a snap Senedd election following Mr Gething’s resignation but Mr Drakeford said that would not happen and the election would take place, as planned, in 2026.

When asked about the upcoming Welsh Labour leadership contest, Mr Drakeford called for it to be “as short as it can be, consistent with the rules”.

He said he thought installing a new leader by the start of the new Senedd term in September was “probably just a shade on the ambitious side” but would like for it to happen by the end of that month.

Mr Drakeford, who said he would “very much like” there to be a woman on the ballot, added that he had not thought it was appropriate for him to endorse a candidate while he was first minister.

But he added: “I’m a freer agent now.”

In his resignation statement to the Senedd, Mr Gething denied any wrongdoing and said he had not compromised his integrity.

He later told the Welsh Parliament that he was “proud” of his record in 11 years as being a minister and was “sad” that process would come to an end.

During Mr Gething’s time in office, a co-operation deal with Plaid Cymru which Labour relied on for a majority collapsed.

His sacking of social partnership minister Hannah Blythyn, who was fired over the alleged leak of messages relating to the Covid-19 pandemic to news website Nation.Cymru, added to controversies over his leadership.

Nation.Cymru, along with Ms Blythyn, denied she was the source of the leaked messages, which showed Mr Gething claiming he would delete correspondence from an iMessage group of Welsh ministers.

On Saturday, Welsh Labour is expected to announce the timetable and process for electing a new leader.