Four ministers have resigned from the Welsh government in protest over Vaughan Gething’s leadership.
Mick Antoniw, Julie James, Lesley Griffiths and Jeremy Miles have all quit their cabinet positions, telling the Labour first minister they cannot get on with their jobs “without you standing down”.
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It comes a month after Mr Gething lost a vote of no confidence – but dismissed the motion as a “gimmick” and vowed to carry on.
In his resignation letter, counsel general Mr Antoniw said the Senedd was “rudderless” without a new leader as he urged Mr Gething to “put the country first”.
“Wales needs confident and stable government. I do not believe you are capable of delivering that,” he wrote.
“You have lost a vote of confidence in the Senedd. That is something I regard as being of major constitutional importance.
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“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.”
Mr Gething was elected to become First Minister in March but quickly faced an array of problems.
He came under sustained criticism for his decision to sack former minister Hannah Blythyn over the leak of a text message, which she denies being behind, and there was a series of rows concerning donations he took while running to be Welsh Labour leader.
This led to the collapse of a co-operation agreement between his party and Plaid Cymru and he subsequently lost a non-binding vote of no confidence in the Senedd.
‘Devolution at risk’
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Julie James, resigning as housing secretary, warned devolution was at risk if Mr Gething did not go, telling him: “We must begin to repair this damage immediately and I am extremely sorry to tell you that I do not think you are capable of being the leader who can lead us through that.”
Welsh Culture and Social Justice Secretary Ms Griffiths said recent events had “fractured relationships” between longstanding colleagues and friends, adding: “I have reached the conclusion that we simply will not be able to put things back on track under your leadership, leaving me with only one realistic option at this point.”
In his letter quitting as Welsh economy secretary Mr Miles, who ran against Mr Gething for the Welsh leadership, said: “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 Gething made history in March when he became the first black leader of any European country, succeeding Mark Drakeford as the First Minster of Wales.
The resignations come ahead of a fresh crunch vote on Wednesday, with the first minister facing a motion tabled by the Tories which could compel him to publish the evidence he used to sack Ms Blythyn.
Welsh politics ‘in disrepute’
Opposition group leaders have lept on the resignations, saying Mr Gething must now stand aside.
Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies said: “Vaughan Gething’s time as First Minister is rightly coming to an end.
“But Labour cannot fool the people of Wales. These ministers, like Jeremy Miles, sat in his Cabinet, they stood by his side, and they are culpable for the breakdown of governance in Wales.
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“Wales will remember.”
Plaid Cymru Leader Rhun ap Iorwerth said Mr Gething “has led a government of chaos and put his own self-interest before the interests of the people of Wales” as he called on him to resign.
“For months, the First Minister’s poor judgement, aversion to scrutiny and ‘do nothing’ approach to governing has undermined the office of First Minister and brought Welsh politics into disrepute.
“Seldom have heads of government in a democracy disregarded the will of its legislature by carrying on despite losing a vote of confidence.”
Attacking new Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer he added: “The Labour party has thrown its weight behind Vaughan Gething and Keir Starmer has acted as his main cheerleader. The Ministers who resigned today are equally culpable, they should have acted far sooner than their eleventh hour intervention when it was a case of one bad headline too many.
“The people of Wales are losing faith in Labour’s ability to govern Wales. In its attitude of ‘our way or no way’ and in its record of delivery which is increasingly found wanting – Labour is out of ideas and running out of road with the public.”
