LONDON — The leader of Wales’ semi-autonomous government faced a no-confidence vote in the Welsh parliament on Wednesday, but said he does not plan to resign if he loses.
The opposition Conservatives called the nonbinding vote in Labour First Minister Vaughan Gething after weeks of criticism of his leadership.
Before the vote, Gething said he would continue “to serve and lead my country.”
People were interested in these podcasts
“I have nothing to hide,” he told lawmakers in Wales’ parliament, the Senedd.
Gething’s Labour Party holds 30 of the 60 Senedd seats, and two Labour lawmakers were off sick on Wednesday, leaving Gething facing likely defeat in the vote later Wednesday. Labour has relied on support from the Welsh nationalist party Plaid Cymru to win votes, but the parties’ cooperation arrangement collapsed last month.
Gething, the son of a Welsh father and a Zambian mother, made history in March when he was elected to head the Cardiff-based administration, becoming the first Black leader of a government in the U.K.
During his election campaign he faced criticism for accepting 200,000 pounds ($255,000) in donations from a recycling company whose owner had been found guilty of environmental offenses and breaching health and safety regulations. Another company with the same owner was given a loan by the government-owned Development Bank of Wales in 2023 when Gething was economy minister.
Gething has denied wrongdoing and said the donations were properly declared under electoral rules, but the issue has not subsided. Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth cited the donations as a reason for ending his party’s agreement with Labour.
“I have never, ever made a decision, in more than a decade as a minister, for personal or financial gain,” Gething said.
Gething also revealed bad blood within Welsh Labour when he fired government minister Hannah Blythyn for allegedly leaking private phone messages to the media.
Blythyn, who denied it, was one of two Labour lawmakers absent due to illness on Wednesday.
Vikki Howells, who heads the Labour group of lawmakers in the Senedd, said the Conservatives had refused to accept “pairing,” the tradition by which parties agree to have members abstain when opponents have to be absent.
The Conservatives said the pairing system is not normally used for votes on significant issues.
Wales, which has a population of about 3 million, is one of four parts of the United Kingdom, along with England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The British government in London is responsible for defense, foreign affairs and other U.K.-wide issues, while administrations in Cardiff, Edinburgh and Belfast control areas such as education and health.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.