Janice R. Andrews
Former First Minister Vaughan Gething has said he will step down from the Senedd at the 2026 election. This will be the end of his ten-year stint in politics. Gething quit as First Minister in July, after only four months in the job. Before that, he was the Senedd member for Cardiff South and Penarth. His short time in office was marked by scandal, especially the fact that a businessman guilty of environmental crimes gave £200,000 to his campaign.
Gething recently told the Cardiff and Penarth Labour Party that he would not be running for office again. He was thankful for his time in Welsh politics and said, “As a Welshman born in Zambia, it has been a great honor to serve in the Welsh government for over a decade.”
Gething will support First Minister Eluned Morgan from the back seats, but he is not going to run for a government job. His exit leaves a big hole in the leadership of Welsh Labour as the party gets ready for the 2026 election.
Gething has been under a lot of scrutiny during his short time as First Minister, and this choice marks the end of a difficult phase in his life.
