The past week saw the conclusion of the Welsh Labour leadership contest, with the arrival of Vaughan Gething as Wales’, and Europe’s, first ever black head of government. He defeated Jeremy Miles, the former Education Minister, by 51.7% of the vote to 48.3%.
The contest had plodded along in a pedestrian enough fashion in its early stages, but took a more controversial turn following Gething’s securing of the Unite Union’s nomination in a process which was thought to lack transparency. Then in February came revelations that Gething had accepted campaign donations worth £200,000 - a staggering sum in the context of Welsh political campaigns - by a company run by a man who had been found guilty of environmental offences.
The closeness of the eventual result has presented Gething with significant challenges in re-uniting a fractured, and fractious, Welsh Labour Senedd Group. The new First Minister’s Cabinet, announced late last week, was both an attempt at quelling internal Party dissent and a bid to re-shape the machinery of Government to fit his plans for a ‘green industrial revolution’. On the latter, most notable was the breaking up of the previously unwieldly Climate Change department, which under Mark Drakeford’s tenure had encompassed planning, environment, energy, transport and housing, putting significant strains on Ministerial capacity.
In what was perhaps a tacit recognition of internal divisions, Gething appointed Jeremy Miles to a beefed-up Cabinet role as Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Energy and Welsh Language. Given that Gething’s close ally, Ken Skates, was rumoured to be the nailed-on choice for this job, this looks a significant concession. The appointment also underlines the importance of green energy to the new First Minister’s economic strategy. As a non-Welsh speaker himself (though he is learning the language), giving the Welsh language brief to the bilingual Mr Miles may have been a further attempt by Gething to pacify disgruntled Party members.
But Gething’s challenges are not just short-term. Assuming current opinion polling is correct and Labour win the General Election later this year, he will be deprived of the easy political attack lines on the UK Conservative Government that benefited Mark Drakeford’s administration. Gething will need to balance the requirement for a ‘just transition’ that helps Wales meet its challenging net zero targets, whilst building a compelling case for businesses to invest in Wales and thus prevent the ‘brain drain’ that has seen so much promising young talent depart for opportunities elsewhere.
Vaughan Gething’s election is undoubtedly an historic moment, and the new First Minister now has an opportunity to present himself as a reforming, media-friendly leader for a new generation. But he knows he has work to do to ensure it is this, and not the manner of his election, that Welsh voters hold in their minds when they vote for a new Senedd in two years’ time.
To speak to our dedicated Wales public affairs team about how we can support you in this year of political change, please contact our Head of Wales, Sian Jones sian.jones@grayling.com