Who is Vaughan Gething?

Everything you need to know about Vaughan Gething, a candidate to be the next first minister of Wales.
Vaughan Gething has been a Member of the Senedd since 2011 (Isabel Infantes/PA)
PA Archive
George Thompson16 February 2024
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Vaughan Gething, Wales’ economy minister, became the first of two men to declare they wanted to be the next first minister of Wales.

As voting opens in the Welsh Labour leadership race, here is everything you need to know about him.

Mr Gething became involved in politics at a young age, having joined the Labour Party at 17 to help campaign in the 1992 elections.

He has been a Member of the Senedd (MS) since 2011 and has sat in the cabinet since 2016.

He rose to prominence as health minister throughout the pandemic, a post he held from 2016 to 2021.

Mr Gething was born in Zambia in 1974, where his father, a Welsh vet from Ogmore-by-Sea in Glamorgan, met his mother, a chicken farmer.

He has spoken openly about his experiences of prejudice and said in his campaign material he does not want anyone in Wales to feel that way.

When he was two his family moved to Abergavenny in Monmouthshire, where his father was due to start a new job, but the offer was withdrawn when he arrived with a black family.

After his father lost his job in Abergavenny, the family moved to Dorset in England, and he later studied law at Aberystwyth University.

He unsuccessfully stood for the Mid and West Wales seat at the first National Assembly elections in 1999, before becoming councillor for the Butetown area of Cardiff in 2004.

He stood for the Senedd elections again in 2011, when he successfully took the Cardiff South and Penarth Seat.

This is the second time he has run for the top job, having stood in 2018 against Mark Drakeford.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in