Eluned Morgan is set to replace outgoing first minister Vaughan Gething. Photo courtesy: Welsh Government
Wales’s health minister Eluned Morgan was poised on Wednesday to become the UK nation’s first female first minister after running unopposed to be the next leader of Welsh Labour.
Morgan, 57, a member of the UK House of Lords since 2011 but on a leave of absence from parliament’s unelected upper chamber, is set to replace outgoing first minister Vaughan Gething.
Gething, who became the first black leader of a government in a European country when he was elected in March, announced he would step down earlier this month after a series of controversies.
Morgan, a former European Parliament member and the current health minister in his administration, was the only contender to be the Welsh Labour Party’s new leader when nominations closed at noon on Wednesday.
She is expected to be confirmed party leader later in the day but would need a vote in Wales’s devolved assembly, the Senedd, to be confirmed as first minister.
The 60-member Senedd is currently on recess until September, and would need to be recalled for her to take over sooner.
Wales-born Morgan, a Senedd member since 2016, served as an MEP for 15 years from 1994.
She has promoted herself as a “unity candidate”, with the Labour group having become fractured in recent months after Gething faced criticism for accepting a £200,000 ($255,500) donation from a man convicted of environmental crimes and a leaked phone message that led to a minister’s dismissal. He eventually reversed his decision to fight on after a no-confidence vote.
All the other potential candidates who were expected to run in the party’s leadership race announced their support for Morgan, leading to Wednesday’s expected coronation.
The Welsh government, based in the capital Cardiff, has limited devolved powers to set policy in areas such as transport, environment, health and education.
