Big majority of readers think First Minister should resign after no-confidence vote

A substantial majority of Nation.Cymru readers have indicated that they believe the First Minister should resign after losing a no-confidence vote in the Senedd last week.

The no confidence motion against Vaughan Gething was passed by 29 votes to 27, with all opposition members supporting it. Two Labour MSs - Hannah Blythyn and Lee Waters - were said to be ill and unable to vote.

The motion was non-binding and will not force Mr Gething to stand aside from his role as First Minister but the result is embarrassing for him, the Welsh Government and the UK Labour Party.

2,103 people voted in our self-selecting poll which ran for two days and closed at 6pm this evening (8 June). 91% of participants thought that the First minister should resign after losing the no-confidence vote.

Following Wednesday's vote, the Llywydd, presiding officer, Elin Jones said: “It is now for the First Minister to reflect on the view that the Senedd has just expressed and the motion that has been agreed.

“Confidence motions are political yes, but they are also intensely personal and while a vote of this nature will have consequences whatever they may be, I ask us all to treat each other with respect and kindness now.”

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Integrity

Within minutes of the result being announced, Mr Gething indicated that he had no intention of stepping down.

Speaking to broadcasters, he said his integrity had been brought into question.

He said: “Where is the evidence I have ever done anything in a way that I should not have as a minister?

“I can tell you there is no evidence of that because it has not happened.

“Today was an exercise in muck-throwing – the range of different things that were said that members know are simply not true is really quite disgraceful.”

Rhun ap Iorwerth, the leader of Plaid Cymru, said his party would consider tabling a motion of no-confidence in the Welsh Government as a whole following the First Minister's comments.

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Scandals

Mr Gething, who has been the Welsh Labour leader since March, faced the no-confidence vote after being plagued by scandal during his short time in office.

Concerns were raised after Nation.Cymru revealed he had accepted a donation from a man convicted of environmental offences during his run to be Welsh Labour leader.

He has also refused to show any evidence to explain why he sacked Hannah Blythyn from his government, after he accused her of leaking messages.

The First Minister’s decision followed a Nation.Cymru article which featured a message posted to a ministerial group chat in August 2020 by Mr Gething, stating that he was “deleting the messages in this group”.

He said the leaked message was from a section of an iMessage group chat with other Labour ministers and related to internal discussions within the Senedd Labour group.

The First Minister told the UK Covid-19 Inquiry that lost WhatsApp messages were not deleted by him, but by the Welsh Parliament’s IT team during a security rebuild.

Mr Gething has always insisted that all rules were followed when he took the donation and denied the leaked message contradicted the evidence he had given to the inquiry, adding that it did not relate to pandemic decision-making but “comments that colleagues make to and about each other”.