Political rivals call on First Minister of Wales to quit

Opposition parties have reiterated calls for the embattled First Minister of Wales to quit after he lost a no-confidence vote.

Vaughan Gething vowed to carry on leading the Welsh Government after losing the vote in the Senedd 29-27.

On Thursday he was in Normandy attending the national commemoration at the British Normandy Memorial in Ver-sur-Mer.

He is then visiting Asnelles to pay his respects at the memorial to the South Wales Borderers – the only Welsh unit to land on D-Day.

Rhun ap Iorwerth, the leader of Plaid Cymru, said his party would consider tabling a motion of no-confidence in the Welsh Government as a whole.

“Yesterday was a solemn day and we’ve only ever had one other vote of no-confidence in a First Minister and that was back in 2000 (with) Alun Michael,” he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

“This was a serious and solemn day.”

Asked whether he was considering a motion of no-confidence in the Welsh Government, Mr ap Iorwerth said: “Yes, absolutely, that is an option at a time like this.

“We’ll reflect on what happened yesterday, Wales, no doubt, will be reflecting on what happened.

“It means considering the options available to us. I would say this: I would hope that whilst he made a very hurried statement yesterday following the votes, I would hope that Vaughan Gething himself and the Labour Party reflect further on this.

“This has been damaging to democracy in Wales and when you do have a vote of no-confidence it sends a very clear and democratic message that the only honourable response would be a resignation.”

Wednesday afternoon’s dramatic scenes in the Senedd followed the collapse of the co-operation deal between Labour and Plaid Cymru and a series of rows involving Mr Gething.

The First Minister told broadcasters: “I’m here, proud to be the First Minister of Wales to serve and lead my country. That’s what I’ve done today, it’s what I’ll carry on doing.”

Mr Gething said it had been a “very disappointing afternoon”, branding the motion a “transparent gimmick” that was impacted by two members of his party being unwell.

Without the absence of Hannah Blythyn, who Mr Gething recently sacked from his Government, and Lee Waters, the no-confidence motion was unlikely to have passed.

The motion was non-binding and will not force Mr Gething to stand aside from his role as First Minister but the result will be embarrassing for him.

Mr Gething was visibly emotional during the debate and could be seen wiping tears from his eyes.

Speaking to broadcasters, he said his integrity had been brought into question with “months and months of innuendo” that was “damaging and hurtful”.

He said: “Where is the evidence I have ever done anything in a way that I should not have as a minister?

“I can tell you there is no evidence of that because it has not happened.

“Today was an exercise in muck-throwing – the range of different things that were said that members know are simply not true is really quite disgraceful.”

Labour frontbencher Liz Kendall has described Mr Gething as a “fantastic campaigner”, while declining to directly express her full confidence in him.

Asked whether she would like to see Mr Gething still in post if Labour wins the General Election, the shadow pensions secretary told broadcasters during a campaign visit to Thurrock in Essex: “I think Vaughan is a passionate champion for tackling poverty and inequality and for achieving social justice.

“He has a clear plan to tackle the cost of living, drive down NHS waiting lists and campaign for the UK Labour government that people in Wales desperately needed.”

Pressed on whether she has full confidence in Mr Gething, she repeated that he is a “fantastic campaigner and champion”.

Ms Kendall was challenged over Labour’s criticism of the Tories’ acceptance of a donation from businessman Frank Hester, who was embroiled in a racism row, when Mr Gething took a donation from a man convicted of environmental offences.

She replied: “Vaughan Gething has clearly followed all the rules. All the donations have been declared in the right way.”

Andrew RT Davies, the leader of the Welsh Conservatives, said Mr Gething had “lost the confidence of the people of Wales”.

He said: “He has lost the confidence of the Senedd. The only person who is still batting for Vaughan Gething is Keir Starmer.”

Mr Gething, who has been the Welsh Labour leader since March, faced the no-confidence vote after being plagued by scandal during his short time in office.

Concerns were raised after Mr Gething accepted a donation from a man convicted of environmental offences during his run to be Welsh Labour leader.

Mr Gething had also refused to show any evidence to explain why he sacked Senedd member Ms Blythyn from his Government, after he accused her of leaking messages to the media.

The First Minister’s decision followed a report on the Nation.Cymru news website which featured a message posted to a ministerial group chat in August 2020 by Mr Gething, stating that he was “deleting the messages in this group”.

He said the leaked message was from a section of an iMessage group chat with other Labour ministers and related to internal discussions within the Senedd Labour group.

He told the UK Covid-19 Inquiry that lost WhatsApp messages were not deleted by him, but by the Welsh Parliament’s IT team during a security rebuild.

Mr Gething has always insisted that all rules were followed when he took the donation and denied the leaked message contradicted the evidence he had given to the inquiry, adding that it did not relate to pandemic decision-making but “comments that colleagues make to and about each other”.