Wales is about to have its first female leader in history, with Eluned Morgan set to replace the current Welsh Labour Party leader, Vaughan Gething, after securing a majority of support in the country’s parliament, the Senedd.
Morgan, who is currently the Welsh Health Minister, is the sole candidate set to replace Gething, who announced his resignation last week after several members of his government stepped down from their positions over a campaign donation scandal.
Gething made history in March when he became the first Black leader of a government in the UK. He was soon embroiled in controversy, after it was discovered that during his election campaign, he had accepted £200,000 in donations from a recycling company that was prosecuted for waste crimes.
This week, Morgan said she is “truly honoured” to become the first woman to lead Welsh Labour, adding that she will be guided by the principles of “strength, stability and unity.”
Follow Labour Party member and Welsh Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Morgan’s appointment was “fantastic news for Wales and the Labour Party.”
“Eluned brings with her a wealth of experience and track-record of delivery, and as the first woman to lead Welsh Labour, she is already making history,” he said.
Huw Irranca-Davies, who is likely to serve as Morgan’s deputy first minister, described himself as his colleague’s “right-hand man.”
“If we’ve learned anything from the last few weeks it’s that there is a need for that role and something of partnership,” he told BBC Wales Today.
“Being at the top is a lonely and isolated job. A partnership, I think people would understand, is a better way forward.”
Welsh Labour member Lee Waters said he “fully expect[s] Eluned to move forward unopposed.”
“I wish her every success: it is a huge public service that she is willing to perform,” he said. “She doesn’t need any more nominations and having made an argument for full contest and debate it would seem hypocritical for me to now nominate. I will do all I can to help.”
Morgan, a member of the House of Lords (the UK parliament’s upper chamber) is now awaiting a vote of the Senedd to become the First Minister.
Morgan grew up in Ely, Cardiff, and worked in television in the early days of her career as a researcher at S4C and BBC. In 1994, she became the youngest member of the European Parliament when she was elected aged 27. She served as a Member of the European Parliament until 2009, before being elected to the Senedd in 2016 to serve the Mid and West regions of Wales.
According to her biography, she was only the fifth woman in the history of Wales to be elected to a full time political position and the first full time politician in Wales to have a baby while in office.
Wales makes up a quarter of the UK, and has a population of roughly three million. Morgan has been described as “a passionate champion of the Welsh language, and an avid internationalist.”