Vaughan Gething to face no confidence vote

It wasn’t so very long ago that Sir Keir was hailing the Welsh Labour party as a ‘blueprint’ for what he would do in office. But with Vaughan Gething’s government crumbling by the hour, it is no surprise that Starmer has stopped praising his sister party in such gushing terms. The flailing First Minister of Wales is now facing a no confidence vote after just 70 days in post, following a string of scandals in the Senedd. He makes Humza Yousaf look like a model of stability…

Gething’s woes started before he even took up office. During his leadership campaign accepted a controversial £200,000 in donations from a businessman twice convicted of environmental offences. He then suddenly sacked minister Hannah Blythyn over the alleged leaking of pandemic-era text messages which suggested Gething had misled the UK Covid Inquiry about his WhatsApps. Plaid Cymru then pulled out of their co-operation deal early, citing Labour’s decision to delay council tax reform. With Gething’s party only holding 30 of the 60 seats in the Welsh parliament, a backbench rebellion of one can potentially halt any piece of legislation.

Sensing weakness, the Welsh Conservatives are going in for the kill. They have tabled a motion of no-confidence in Gething: a motion that has now been accepted and will take place on 5 June. It means that rather than talking about the wicked Tories of Westminster, Welsh Labour has to spend the next week defending its flailing First Minister. Hardly a great start to an election campaign in which they hope to make gains eh?