Wales’ new first minister Eluned Morgan set to be appointed

Eluned Morgan is set to officially become first minister of Wales later.

The Senedd has been recalled from its summer break to nominate the new first minister after Vaughan Gething resigned.

Members of the Senedd (MSs) can take part in the vote virtually and arrangements have been made to allow them to take part from abroad.

The health secretary, who became leader of Welsh Labour last month, will become Wales’ first female first minister.

She will succeed Mr Gething, who quit after four members of his cabinet resigned in unison.

His leadership was mired in controversy after he accepted donations from a man twice convicted of environmental offences during his election campaign.

The sacking of one of his cabinet ministers over leaked messages also caused a row within the party.

It is the first time the Senedd has been recalled for a vote to confirm a new first minister and follows a formal request from Mr Gething for it to go ahead.

The original plan for him to stay on until September and have a final First Minister’s Questions in the Senedd before resigning was abandoned after it became clear that Ms Morgan was the only candidate to replace him.

She ran for the leadership with a promise to make Huw Irranca-Davies, the environment and rural affairs cabinet secretary, her deputy.

A vote must take place to confirm Ms Morgan’s place as first minister and each MS must nominate a candidate by saying their name out loud.

It is expected that Plaid Cymru and Conservative MSs will nominate their own leaders and Jane Dodds, the only Liberal Democrat, will abstain.

However, Labour MSs outnumber the other parties in the Senedd.

An exception has been made to allow MSs to take part virtually from abroad, which is not usually allowed.

Leader of the Welsh Conservatives in the Senedd, Andrew RT Davies, congratulated Ms Morgan on “becoming the first female leader of her party in Wales and likely the first woman to become first minister of Wales”.

But he said there has been no sense of direction from Ms Morgan, adding: “Considering the chaos that has engulfed the Labour government in Cardiff Bay, this recall should have been brought forward, but instead we have been rudderless for weeks.

“Given that Eluned Morgan’s delivery as health minister was so abysmal, you would have thought that she would want to get going straight away and set out a clear plan for delivery, but that plan has not been forthcoming.”

Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth said: “The Senedd is being recalled today because of Labour chaos – and let’s be clear – the chaos under Vaughan Gething won’t be fixed by the coronation of Eluned Morgan – Welsh Labour’s challenges are much more fundamental.

“After a quarter of a century in power, Labour are tired and directionless. They have no vision or ambition for Wales. Their record on the economy, education and our NHS is unacceptable.”

Eluned Morgan is the Labour MS for Mid and West Wales.

The 57-year-old was born in Cardiff and has been the health secretary in the Welsh government since 2021.

She was first appointed by Mark Drakeford and was reappointed earlier this year to the same role by Mr Gething.

At the age of 27, she became the youngest member of the European Parliament and is a life peer of the House of Lords.

Her official title is Baroness Morgan of Ely, but she is on leave of absence from that role.