Four Welsh Labour ministers resign and tell beleaguered leader Vaughan Gething he must QUIT as First Minister

Vaughan Gething is facing major pressure to resign as Welsh First Minister today after four of his senior ministers quit and told him he must go.  

Mick Antoniw, Julie James, Lesley Griffiths and Jeremy Miles announced they were resigning from the government in Cardiff in a co-ordinated move against the Welsh Labour leader.

Mr Gething, 50, only took up the role in March and was prominently visited by PM Keir Starmer and deputy PM Angela Rayner in the election campaign, when Labour won 27 of the 32 seats in Wales.

But the FM has been under huge pressure for the whole of his short tenure over a £200,000 donation he received for his leadership campaign from a businessman convicted of an environmental crime for dumping waste on a conservation site. 

Mr Gething has also refused to show any evidence to justify sacking Labour Senedd member Hannah Blythyn from his government, after he accused her of leaking messages to the media. This led to the collapse of a co-operation agreement between his party and Plaid Cymru. 

Last month he lost a confidence vote in his leadership but refused to step down as First Minister.

In a letter quitting as Welsh economy secretary, Mr Miles, who ran against Mr Gething for the leadership, wrote: 'We cannot continue like this.'

He called on the First Minister to resign and said 'the events of the last few months including your loss of the confidence vote in the Senedd, have been incredibly painful'.

He told Mr Gething: 'It's essential that we begin to repair the damage immediately, and I have reached the conclusion very regrettably that this cannot happen under your leadership.

'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 Antoniw told the leader 'I do not believe you can continue as First Minister' as he quit as the Welsh Government's counsel general.

Urging the First Minister to 'put the country first' he said the Senedd was 'rudderless' without a new leader.

Mr Antoniw said: 'Wales needs confident and stable government. I do not believe you are capable of delivering that.

'You have lost a vote of confidence in the Senedd. That is something I regard as being of major constitutional importance.

'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.

'We are all here to do the best for our country. I believe it is now necessary for you to choose to put the country first and resign as First Minister to allow an election for a new First Minister and leader of Welsh Labour.'

At the start of June Mr Gething broke down in tears as he lost the no-confidence vote in the Senedd.

The no confidence motion was passed by 29 to 27, with two of Mr Gething's assembly members seemingly off sick.

He had already appeared with Sir Keir and Ms Rayner as they launched Labour's general election campaign in Wales. And he was front and centre with the PM as he toured the UK after his win on July 4.

Mr Gething has been involved in a series of rows since he replaced Mark Drakeford as Welsh Labour leader in March.

This includes controversy over donations from businessman David Neal, a convicted polluter who dumped waste on a conservation site. 

There were also claims Mr Gething may have deleted messages that could be of interest to the Covid Inquiry.

Social partnership minister Hannah Blythyn was removed from the Welsh Government in May, after messages from the Covid pandemic were leaked to the website Nation.Cymru. 

They featured a message posted to a ministerial group chat in August 2020 by Mr Gething, saying that he was 'deleting the messages in this group'.

He previously told the UK Covid-19 Inquiry that lost WhatsApp messages were not deleted by him, but by the Welsh Parliament's IT team during a security rebuild.

Last week at the Senedd's Scrutiny Committee the FM defended his decision, insisting that evidence showed messages given to Nation.Cymru came from her phone.

However, he insisted he has never tried to claim Ms Blythyn directly contacted the media herself.

Delyn MS Ms Blythyn had previously said she could 'look all my colleagues who sit on these benches in the eye' and say she had not leaked to the media.

And on Thursday, Nation.Cymru came out and insisted Ms Blythyn was not the source of the leak which triggered her sacking.

Welsh Conservatives 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. Wales will remember.'

And Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth said: 'Vaughan Gething has led a government of chaos and put his own self-interest before the interests of the people of Wales.

'For months, the First Minister's poor judgment, aversion to scrutiny and ''do nothing'' approach to governing has undermined the office of First Minister and brought Welsh politics into disrepute.'