Vaughan Gething is facing major pressure to resign as Welsh First Minister today after four of his senior ministers quit and told him he must go.
Mick Antoniw, Julie James, Lesley Griffiths and Jeremy Miles announced they were resigning from the government in Cardiff in a co-ordinated move against the Welsh Labour leader.
Mr Gething, 50, only took up the role in March and was repeatedly supported by PM Keir Starmer and deputy PM Angela Rayner in the election campaign.
But he has been under huge pressure for the whole of his short tenure over donations he received for his leadership campaign from a businessman convicted of an environmental crime for dumping waste on a conservation site.
Last month he lost a confidence vote in his leadership but refused to step down as First Minister.
In a letter quitting as Welsh economy secretary, Mr Miles, who ran against Mr Gething for the leadership, wrote: ‘We cannot continue like this.’
Mr Gething, 50, only took up the role in March and was repeatedly supported by PM Keir Starmer and deputy PM Angela Rayner in the election campaign.
In a letter quitting as Welsh economy secretary, Mr Miles, who ran against Mr Gething for the leadership, wrote: ‘We cannot continue like this.’
He called on the First Minister to resign and said ‘the events of the last few months including your loss of the confidence vote in the Senedd, have been incredibly painful’.
Mr Antoniw told the leader ‘I do not believe you can continue as First Minister’ as he quit as the Welsh Government’s counsel general.
He called on the First Minister to resign and said ‘the events of the last few months including your loss of the confidence vote in the Senedd, have been incredibly painful’.
He told Mr Gething: ‘It’s essential that we begin to repair the damage immediately, and I have reached the conclusion very regrettably that this cannot happen under your leadership.
‘I can’t see any way forward for us which allows us to get on with job we are elected to do, without you standing down.’
Mr Antoniw told the leader ‘I do not believe you can continue as First Minister’ as he quit as the Welsh Government’s counsel general.
Urging the First Minister to ‘put the country first’ he said the Senedd was ‘rudderless’ without a new leader.
Mr Antoniw said: ‘Wales needs confident and stable government. I do not believe you are capable of delivering that.
‘You have lost a vote of confidence in the Senedd. That is something I regard as being of major constitutional importance.
‘It is clear that you no longer command a majority, that you will be unable to enter into the agreements necessary to pass a budget, and for all intents and purposes the Senedd is rudderless.
‘We are all here to do the best for our country. I believe it is now necessary for you to choose to put the country first and resign as First Minister to allow an election for a new First Minister and leader of Welsh Labour.’
