Eluned Morgan has been elected as the Leader of Welsh Labour and Wales’ next First Minister, making her the first woman to hold either position. The Welsh health secretary was the only nominee and her leadership was confirmed by the party. This follows the resignation of Vaughan Gething after four senior politicians resigned from his government. Morgan has promised to unify the Welsh Labour group which has been plagued with internal disagreements since Mr Gething was elected in March. Morgan is a former Member of the European Parliament and has been MS for Mid and West Wales since 2016.
Huw Irranca-Davies, who supported Mr Gething’s opponent in the previous leadership contest, is expected to become her deputy. The Welsh Conservatives implied Ms Morgan had been given the leadership without contest while Plaid Cymru claimed the leadership election showed the “turmoil” within the Labour party. Mr Gething remains the First Minister until Morgan is officially confirmed in a vote of the Senedd, likely to be recalled from summer recess at an unknown date.
Prime minister Keir Starmer views Morgan’s election as Welsh Labour leader positively, stating she is “making history” and brings with her a weath of experience and a track-record of delivery. Plaid Cymru’s Rhun ap Iorwerth criticized Morgan’s health minister record claiming it led to “record high waiting lists and an inability to get to grips with the significant challenges in the NHS.” Welsh conservatives congratulated Morgan, while highlighting her leadership of the Wales’ worst NHS waiting lists on record.
Morgan has pledged to unify the split Welsh Labour group, which has been troubled by rows since the election of Mr Gething last March. A roll-call vote is required of all 60 MS’s before the First Minister job is officially passed to Morgan. The vote requires every member to state out loud who they believe should be First Minister. In theory, the opposition, with exactly half of the numbers in the Senedd, could prevent Morgan from being confirmed by backing a single candidate, but that’s it not expected to happen as Labour will have the necessary numbers to get their new First Minister confirmed
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