Gething supporters win top two places on Labour Senedd list in Cardiff

Martin Shipton

Two of disgraced former First Minister Vaughan Gething’s most fervent supporters have been selected as Labour’s top two Senedd candidates in the new super-constituency of Caerdydd Penarth, we can reveal.

Cardiff council leader Huw Thomas is understood to have won a convincing victory in the party members’ ballot in the seat that covers the two Westminster constituencies of Cardiff West and Cardiff South & Penarth.

The runner-up was Vale of Glamorgan councillor Ruba Sivagnanam.

As a result, Cllr Thomas gets the top slot on the Caerdydd Penarth closed list, with Cllr Sivagnanam in second place.

On recent polling, Labour can expect to win certainly one and possibly two seats in Caerdydd Penarth.

When shortlisted in August this year, Cllr Thomas said: “I’m running because I believe I’ve got the experience and vision to make a difference in our constituency. That's based on over 13 years serving as a councillor here, the last eight as leader of Cardiff council.

“Having led the city through unprecedented crises like Brexit, Covid and Liz Truss’s cost of living Budget, I’ve seen the damage Tory mismanagement can wreak on our communities. But I’ve also had the chance to shape and deliver Labour policies that have transformed lives for the better, like building council housing at scale for the first time in a generation, our record investment in education or how we’ve worked with the Welsh Labour government and trade union partners to protect vital front-line services.”

When Mr Gething announced that he was standing for the leadership of Welsh Labour following Mark Drakeford’s decision to stand down, Cllr Thomas said: ”Vaughan is one of my oldest friends in the party, and I have no hesitation in backing him to be Wales’ First Minister. He clearly has a strong track record of delivering for Wales from the centre of government, not least through his experience as Health Minister during Covid.”

Mr Gething won the election and also took over as First Minister.

But he had to resign after just four months in office after Nation.Cymru revealed how he had accepted donations totalling £200,000 from businessman David Neal, who had received two suspended jail sentences for environmental crimes. Nation.Cymru also revealed how Mr Gething had told ministerial colleagues he had deleted text messages he had shared with them during the pandemic because they would otherwise have been disclosable under the Freedom of Information Act - a matter he subsequently lied about to the UK Covid Inquiry.

When in September 2024 Mr Gething announced that he would not be seeking re-election to the Senedd in 2026, Cllr Thomas posted a message to social media that said: “Since 2011, Vaughan has served the people of Cardiff South and Penarth with dedication and skill. His political career has been one of smashing glass ceilings, and his decision to step away in 2026, whilst understandable, is a huge loss to the Senedd and Wales. Diolch am bopeth [Thanks for everything].”

Scandals

At the height of the scandals, Cllr Sivagnanam put out a statement supporting Mr Gething in her capacity as vice chair of Welsh Labour’s BAME (Black Asian and minority ethnic) Committee. In the statement she falsely accused the Welsh media of criticising Mr Gething out of racist motives. The statement also carried the name of the committee’s chair, Dr Mahaboob Basha, who was recently selected as Labour’s leading candidate in the super-constituency of Brycheiniog Tawe Nedd.

It said: “We should be rightly proud that the appointment of Europe’s first Black leader happened here in Wales. As First Minister Vaughan Gething represents all the people of Wales, whatever their background or political identity, and the fact that he is Black demonstrates that Wales is proud of all of its children in all of their diversity.

“However, as Welsh Labour’s BAME Committee, we feel that we must also state that this achievement brings with it the danger of surfacing racist attitudes in the media and elsewhere. We would like to call on all in Welsh Labour to stand together to resist this path. For so many BAME people in Wales, the last few weeks will have been disturbing and unsettling, and yet very familiar. In the Welsh media, the treatment of Vaughan Gething has gone well beyond what one can reasonably call fair scrutiny … We fully endorse thorough political scrutiny from a free press and from an active political community. However, we feel that this scrutiny in recent weeks has crossed a line between fair examination and racially influenced attitudes and judgements, with a Black person being held to a higher standard.

“ … There have been many moments of reflection over the last few years in which people and institutions have accepted how subconscious racial prejudice can creep into the things they do and say . We believe we are seeing this play out before us, and we must act to stop it. That is why we are speaking out, standing firmly behind Vaughan Gething, and calling on all in our movement to be allies not bystanders.”

The statement made no mention of the scandals surrounding Mr Gething or offered any criticism of his behaviour.

Anti-racist

In a statement published at the time by NationCymru, Mark Mansfield, the news outlet’s CEO/Editor, refuted the allegation of racism, saying: “Editorially we have always followed a strong anti-racist position and have exposed racist organisations and individuals operating in Wales, working alongside organisations such as Hope Not Hate.

“Members of the team have received death threats because of this reporting, resulting in the police putting in place increased protection, and staff having to install security equipment for protection.

“To suggest our scrutiny of Mr Gething is out of proportion is simply untrue. Any Welsh politician involved in scandals of the scale embroiling Mr Gething would be under exactly the same degree of scrutiny.

“We stand behind every line of our reporting.”

Subsequently it emerged that other members of Welsh Labour’s BAME Committee had not been consulted about the statement before it was released.

One told us: “I was not contacted about this statement before it was sent out. It’s wrong to suggest that the statement was put out with the authority of the committee.

“The committee is controlled by a very small number of people who don’t organise monthly meetings as they are supposed to. There hasn’t been an AGM (annual general meeting) of the committee to which I have been invited and so far as I am concerned the officers are self-appointed. It’s not democratic.

“I totally disagree with the allegation that the Welsh media have been racist in their coverage of Vaughan Gething’s actions. He has taken a huge amount of money from a convicted criminal, after all, and has to be scrutinised. I believe a race card has been played in an attempt to divert attention from what he has done.”

Questions

We wrote to Cllr Sivagnanam, who distributed the Welsh Labour BAME Committee statement, asking her a series of questions:

* Did the committee hold a meeting before the statement was issued?

* How many members of the committee are there and how many attended?

* How do you account for the fact that we have been told there was no consultation with the committee before the statement was issued?

* If no meeting was held, why not?

* If no meeting was held, how do you justify issuing the statement on behalf of the committee?

* Do you regret making unfounded allegations of racism against the Welsh media?

* You are a colleague of Stewart Owadally, who was Vaughan Gething's leadership campaign manager. He works for Mr Gething and you work for Stephen Doughty MP, in the same office. Did you discuss the statement issued in your name with Mr Owadally before it was issued?

* How do you react to the suggestion, made by one of the BAME committee members, that in issuing the statement you were playing the race card?

* [We have also been] told that meetings of the BAME committee are held infrequently, and certainly not every month, as they should be. Is that correct, and if so why?

Cllr Sivagnanam did not respond to our questions.