The Welsh first minister, Vaughan Gething, has lost a confidence vote less than 12 weeks after taking office, following a series of scandals that have called into question his judgment and transparency.
Gething’s defeat is a significant blow to his authority and a problem for the UK Labour leader, Keir Starmer, who so far has repeatedly backed the Labour first minister.
The motion of no confidence was tabled by the Tories and backed by Plaid Cymru and the Liberal Democrats, but it has become clear that Gething has also lost the backing of some in his own party.
Though the vote is non-binding and will not automatically force him to resign, there is no doubt his leadership has been damaged and pressure on him to step down is bound to grow.
Gething vowed to carry on, saying: “I’m here, proud to be the first minister of Wales, to serve and lead my country. That’s what I will carry on doing.” He called the no-confidence motion a “transparent gimmick” led by the Welsh Conservatives during a general election campaign.
A defiant Gething also accused his opponents of “muck-racking” and he said he was heading to Normandy to represent Wales at the D-Day commemorations. He said: “I’m going to carry on doing my duty.”
Earlier this week, Gething said he was confident he would win the vote, but on Wednesday morning the outcome was put on a knife-edge when Labour said two of its members were unwell.
The two who did not vote were the former social partnership minister Hannah Blythyn, whom Gething had sacked, and the former transport minister Lee Waters, who had been openly critical.
Gething said the vote was lost because the two members were off ill and the opposition parties had refused to “pair”, the custom by which voting numbers are evened out.
Gething’s tenure has been overshadowed by £200,000 in donations for his leadership campaign that he took from a company whose owner, David Neal, was convicted of dumping waste on the Gwent Levels in south Wales.
Last month the pressure increased with the emergence of iMessages between Gething and fellow Labour members sent during the Covid crisis, when Gething was the Welsh health minister, in which he said he was going to delete a thread, which led to suspicions of decisions being covered up.
It got worse when Gething sacked Blythyn as a minister, suggesting she had leaked the messages, which she denied. Within hours, Plaid Cymru had ended its cooperation agreement with the Welsh government, making it trickier for the government to operate, since it does not have an overall Senedd majority.
Andrew RT Davies, the leader of the Welsh Conservatives, said after the vote: “Vaughan Gething has lost the confidence of the people of Wales. He has lost the confidence of the Senedd. The only person who is still batting for Vaughan Gething is Keir Starmer.”
The Plaid Cymru leader, Rhun ap Iorwerth, said: “Vaughan Gething must do the honourable thing and resign to ensure no further instability at the heart of the Labour Welsh government.”
Jane Dodds, the Welsh Liberal Democrat leader, said: “Any attempts of holding on to power would go against the established norms of our parliamentary democracy.”
The shadow Welsh secretary, Jo Stevens, said: “Today’s Senedd motion is a political stunt by the Conservatives, supported by Plaid Cymru. More Tory chaos. Labour remains entirely focused on the issues that matter to working people across Wales and Britain, and delivering a UK Labour government.”
Gething was backed by 27 members. Twenty-nine voted in favour of the no-confidence motion. The presiding officer, Elin Jones, asked the first minister “to reflect on the view that the Senedd has expressed” and asked members to treat “each other with respect and kindness”.
Earlier, during an emotional and often heated debate in the Senedd, Gething had appeared to shed tears and was comforted by a colleague.
Davies said in the debate that the issue was about “judgment, transparency and honesty”. He said: “Most reasonable people would question what was being secured by that £200,000 donation to the leadership campaign.”
Gething told the Senedd: “I have dedicated my adult life to public service and to Wales. I have never ever made a decision in more than a decade as a minister for personal or financial gain.”
The first minister said that if Davies was really interested in how government was conducted, he would have raised questions about Partygate.
“I also want to recognise that like me, so many people of colour have been traduced and vilified merely for raising concerns about how some of these debates have been handled,” he said. “Our lived experience should matter and be respected. We still have a very long way to go.”
Hefin David, an ally of Gething, said: “I have the right to ask if his ethnicity has an influence on the motives of some of those outside this chamber who seek to break him on the wheel.”
Joyce Watson, a Labour member, expressed anger that the debate had taken place on the eve of the D-day anniversary, preventing Gething from representing Wales at an event in Portsmouth. She told Gething’s opponents: “You could have picked any other day. You chose this day. I will never forgive you. You want to hang your head in shame.”
