Will Vaughan Gething’s Victory as Wales’ First Black Leader Open a New Era in European History?

The news of Vaughan Gething’s victory in the Welsh Labour Party elections topped the British newspapers, which indicated that Gething had become the first prime minister of African origin, whether in Wales or Europe.

In a speech on March 17, Gething pledged to address the cost-of-living crisis in Wales, as well as the challenges plaguing farmers and the country’s healthcare and education systems.

It is noteworthy that in Wales, the local government is responsible for several issues, such as health, education, and transportation.

The appointment of Vaughan Gething means the UK, Scottish, and Welsh governments are led by men from minority ethnic backgrounds for the first time, according to the Associated Press.

It’s a striking moment in a country still grappling with racism and the legacy of the empire. For the first time, none of the UK’s four main governments is led by a white man.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has Indian heritage and is Britain’s first Hindu leader. Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf — who, like Gething, heads a semi-autonomous government — comes from a Pakistani Muslim family. 

Northern Ireland’s regional administration is jointly led by two women, Michelle O’Neill and Emma Little-Pengelly.

First Black Leader

The next Prime Minister of Wales, Vaughan Gething, announced that he is honored to become the first black leader in Europe after his election on March 17 to head the Labour Party in Wales, which has been in power for 25 years.

The 50-year-old former lawyer succeeds outgoing Prime Minister Mark Drakeford, 69, who announced his resignation in December 2023, five years after assuming office.

Gething said that he was honored to become the first black leader of a European country and spoke of a new page in the history of Wales.

Gething had stated in an interview with the Guardian, before winning the election, that he wanted to be judged not by the color of his skin, but by his abilities and energies.

Vaughan Gething won 51.7% of the votes cast by members of the party and affiliated trade unions, and Education Minister Jeremy Miles 48.3%.

I am honoured to have been elected Leader of our Welsh Labour Party.

Mae’n anrhydedd i mi gael fy ethol yn arweinydd Llafur Cymru.

To Welsh Labour members, trade union colleagues, and every Labour representative in Wales — thank you for putting your trust in me.

— Vaughan Gething (@vaughangething) March 16, 2024

Only members of the Labour Party and members of some of its affiliated unions participated in the vote, meaning about 100,000 people out of a total population of about three million people.

Gething’s campaign faced controversy when it was revealed it received a substantial donation of cash from an environmental group led by an individual who’d faced previous prosecution for environmental offenses. 

A BBC investigation revealed that Gething recently received about $250,000 in donations from Atlantic Recycling.

In 2016, Gething asked the government’s environment agency to ease restrictions on the company.

But Gething has defended the donations, noting that he scrupulously followed all rules and that he’s clear that nothing changes my commitment to having firmer environmental regulation.

Job Discrimination 

Vaughan Gething was born in Zambia on March 15, 1974, to a Welsh father and a Zambian mother, and said his family moved to Monmouthshire in Wales when he was two years old.

But he was forced to move to Dorset County in England after his father faced job discrimination because of his family’s ethnicity, according to Forbes magazine.

He then studied law at Aberystwyth University and later attended Cardiff University Law School.

He also worked as a union lawyer with the law firm Thompsons Solicitors and became the first black president of both the Welsh Trades Union Congress and the Welsh Students Union during his university years.

According to the Guardian, Gething was inspired by the stories of South African leader Nelson Mandela to join the Labour Party in Wales when he was 17 years old.

Gething has long been involved in Welsh government, first joining the Welsh Parliament in 2011, becoming the first ever black UK minister of state in 2013, and served as Health Minister from 2016 to 2021, and then serving as Economy Minister.

New Chapter 

With Britain facing a general election this year, Gething will be an important player in the Labour Party’s bid to end 14 years of Conservative rule.

Keir Starmer, Chairman of the British Labour Party and the most likely candidate for the legislative elections expected in January 2025 in the UK, expressed his sincere congratulations to Gething.

“We look forward to campaigning with Vaughan in this new chapter for Wales, to deliver Labour governments across Britain,” wrote national party leader Keir Starmer on X.

“With his many years of experience in the Senedd, I know he will lead a hopeful, ambitious Welsh Labour government in the face of a tried and failed Tory government in Westminster,” Keir said.

Huge congratulations to @VaughanGething on his election as Leader of the Welsh Labour Party. 

His appointment as First Minister of Wales, the first Black leader in the UK, will be an historic moment that speaks to the progress and values of modern-day Wales.

I pay tribute to… pic.twitter.com/Hixf5lbmWc

— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) March 16, 2024

Jo Stevens, the shadow Welsh secretary in Westminster, said it was the start of a new era for Labour in Wales, and the focus would turn to the general election. 

British Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also congratulated Gething on the win and said he looked forward to working with him in a constructive spirit.

Regarding the UK general elections scheduled for later this year, Gething said: “I know we can win, and we must win.”

He pointed out that “the Labour Party needs to remove the Conservatives and push party leader Keir Starmer into the Downing 10.”

Last December, Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford stepped down as Labour leader.

Since his first election to the Senate in 2011, Drakeford has held various ministerial positions, where he assumed the position of First Minister and leader of the Labour Party in Wales in 2018.

Despite having many responsibilities, Drakeford has faced declining ratings and criticism for his policies, including enforcing speed limits on Welsh roads.

In announcing his resignation, Drakeford confirmed that he was looking forward to leading the Welsh Labour Party for only five years. However, some speculation pointed to the influence of his wife Claire’s death last year on his decision to resign.

It is noteworthy that Wales under Drakeford witnessed many obstacles, including: austerity, division over Britain’s exit from the European Union, child poverty, and the steel industry.

Ethnic Diversity 

In a report published by the Associated Press on March 17, it said that it cannot be denied that British politics has changed rapidly over the past years.

Before 2002, the country had never had a non-white government minister. Sunak likes to point out that his government is one of the most diverse in British history.

It includes Home Secretary James Cleverly and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch, who are Black, and Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho, whose parents emigrated from India.

The government’s diversity reflects years of work by the center-right party to shake up its dull, male, and stale image and encourage people of color to run for parliament.

Sunder Katwala, who heads the equality think tank British Future, wrote in the Guardian that racial diversity at the top has become the new normal.

However, critics say the increase in diversity in senior positions has not been accompanied by government policies to reduce wider social inequalities.

Some also accuse Sunak’s administration of deliberately politicizing race as a divisive issue during an election year in which the Conservatives trail far behind Labor in the polls.

They point to politicians such as former Home Secretary Suella Braverman, who claims multiculturalism has failed and says Britain faces an invasion of asylum seekers.

Braverman, whose Indian parents moved to Britain from Kenya and Mauritius, was sacked by Sunak in November but remains a powerful Conservative lawmaker.

Claims of racism within the Conservative Party have made headlines in recent weeks.

Last month, Sunak suspended Lee Anderson, a senior Conservative lawmaker, for saying London’s Muslim mayor is controlled by Islamists. 

Sunak also denounced comments by Software businessman Frank Hester, who gave the Conservatives at least $12.8 million last year, about a Black female politician. 

Sayeeda Warsi, the former chairwoman of the Conservative Party, said she felt there was more overt racism now than in 2010 when she was the only person of color in then-Prime Minister David Cameron’s government.

Warsi told Times Radio that while she celebrated Sunak’s appointment as prime minister, “I think, tragically, his tenure will be remembered as him presiding over a terribly racist period within the party.”

Sunak claimed last month that there had been a shocking increase in extremism and criminality. In response, his government drew up a new definition of extremism.

Critics say it could disproportionately target Muslims and limit free speech.