Hannah Blythyn, who served as a junior minister in the Welsh government, has been dismissed by Vaughan Gething, his counterpart for social partnership. Gething accused Blythyn of leaking text messages to the press and claimed he had “no alternative” but to take this action. He made the decision after investigating a “recent disclosure of communication.” This follows a story published by Nation.Cymru that unveiled Gething’s intention to erase messages from a pandemic-related chat group. He thanked Blythyn for her services to date in his brief announcement.
In February, Blythyn grabbed headlines when she revealed that the Welsh government would acquire the South Wales Fire and Rescue Service amid allegations of sexual harassment and misogyny in its ranks. Within the context of chaos within Labour in Cardiff Bay over controversial donations to Gething’s leadership drive, Blythyn’s expulsion from his team is not unexpected.
In August 2020, Gething informed fellow ministers that he was deleting messages from a group chat, according to disclosures made in May. This brought disapproval and accusations about whether he had committed perjury at the Covid Inquiry. Gething did not admit to these allegations, and notwithstanding the contents of the disclosure, he contended that he never erased any messages from his phone. The Covid Inquiry has said it would examine whether to get additional evidence from him.
In his statement, the Wales First Minister expressed his regret about the necessity of asking Blythyn to leave the government. The First Minister also recorded his recognition of Blythyn’s contribution to Wales, including her work for the review of the fire and rescue services and leadership of the LGBTQ+ Action Plan for Wales and priceless contributions to the Social Partnership and Public Procurement (Wales) Act. He added that there was room for her to take another government position in the future, and the government would provide Blythyn with ongoing support.
Andrew RT Davies, Welsh Conservative Senedd group leader, attributed Gething’s decision to sack Blythyn to the Labour leader’s campaign choices. “Just weeks into his time as first minister, Vaughan Gething has had to sack somebody from his cabinet, which is almost unprecedented in recent memory in Wales.” He also demanded that Blythyn clarify where she got the leaked messages at the Covid Inquiry
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