Speculation that Vaughan Gething may quit the Senedd earlier than expected

Martin Shipton

Senior Labour figures have suggested that Vaughan Gething may resign from the Senedd in the coming months, triggering a by-election at a difficult time for Welsh Labour.

It’s nearly 10 months since Mr Gething resigned as First Minister in the wake of a succession of scandals.

He accepted donations to his Welsh Labour leadership campaign totalling £200k from a company owned by businessman David Neal, who had been given two suspended prison sentences for dumping toxic sludge in the protected wetlands landscape of the Gwent Levels.

He also told fellow ministers during the pandemic that he was deleting messages in a group chat because they would be subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act. A screenshot of his incriminating message was leaked to Nation.Cymru.

Ministers and other Members of the Senedd had expressly been told not to delete messages.

Mr Gething later misled the UK Covid-19 Inquiry by saying in a sworn statement that messages had been deleted when his mobile phone was reconditioned by the Senedd’s IT department.

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Liability

Eventually Labour came to see Mr Gething as more of a liability than an asset, and he resigned as First Minister in August 2024 after less than five months in the post.

The following month he announced that he would not be seeking re-election as an MS in the 2026 Senedd election. This happened after his successor, Eluned Morgan, said there was no place for him in her Cabinet team.

In recent days Nation.Cymru has spoken to a number of Labour sources about Mr Gething’s future. We were prompted to do so after receiving an email that suggested he might resign his Cardiff South and Penarth seat.

The author of the email said they had been at a wedding where Labour people had openly been talking about the possibility of his resignation.

We then received a message from another Labour source which suggested Mr Gething had asked Eluned Morgan to give him a leading role in a big investment summit being organized by the Welsh Government later this year. According to the source he had said he would resign from the Senedd if his wish was not granted.

As a result, we spoke to a number of other Labour sources, some of whom confirmed they had heard of the possibility that Mr Gething might resign his seat and that this could be linked to his wish to take a prominent role in the investment summit.

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'Insistent'

One said: “He is very insistent that he should have a leading role in the investment summit that Eluned has announced, even though he is now just a backbencher.

“It’s clearly not in Labour’s interest to have a by-election at a time when Reform UK is doing very well in the polls. While Cardiff South and Penarth is one of the least likely Labour seats in Wales to fall to Reform, nothing could be guaranteed, especially at a by-election. It’s a headache Eluned Morgan can do without.”

Another source told us: “There’s concern about Vaughan’s disengagement from the Senedd group. He’s not been attending as regularly as he should. Once he dropped into a virtual meeting dressed very casually. People think he isn’t taking the job seriously or pulling his weight.”

Another Labour source said: “It has also been mentioned that he is hoping to get a job with Rolls Royce.”

One activity Mr Gething has been involved in is promoting a plan by businessman Nigel Roberts to build a business park linked to a proposed railway station called Cardiff Parkway at St Mellons in east Cardiff.

Earlier this year, in her capacity as First Minister, Eluned Morgan granted planning permission for the business park and the station project. Mr Roberts’ company has permission to develop the business park up to an area of 30,000 square metres without starting work on the station.

In March 2024 Rolls Royce Submarines announced plans to create more than 100 white-collar jobs at St Mellons in connection with its role in providing defence nuclear projects connected to the AUKUS military partnership between the United States, Australia and the UK. In addition, Rolls Royce has plans to create a number of small MLR nuclear energy reactors in Wales.

Nuclear energy group

Mr Gething was recently involved in establishing a cross-party group on nuclear energy at the Senedd, which he chairs.

A further Labour source suggested that for family reasons Mr Gething may move to Ireland.

A spokesperson for the Welsh Government said they had no knowledge of these matters. They said Mr Gething may have an involvement in the investment summit because of his previous role as Health Minister, in which capacity he had a knowledge of biosciences, a crucial contributor to Wales’ economy.

We invited Mr Gething to comment, but he did not respond to our message.