The four cabinet members who have resigned are Jeremy Miles, Lesley Griffiths, Julie James and Mick Antoniw.
Mick Antoniw’s statement
On X, Mick Antoniw wrote:
“With great sadness I am resigning as counsel general from the Welsh Government.
“I must advise you (Vaughan Gething) that I do not believe you can continue as first minister. 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.”
“For all intensive purposes, the Senedd is rudderless,” he said.
Statement from Jeremy Miles
Economy Secretary Jeremy Miles also wrote on X explaining his decision to resign from his cabinet position. Miles said:
“The events of the last few months including your (Vaughan Gething’s) loss of the confidence vote in the Senedd have been incredibly painful.
“This has become a distraction from the important work of the Welsh government and is damaging our party.”
He said that he couldn’t see any way forward for Labour which allowed them to get on with the job they are elected to do without the First Minister stepping down.
Statement from Julie James, cabinet secretary for housing and local government
Julie James has said that the last few months have been like a rollercoaster.
In an open letter, she said:
“On the one hand, (I felt) serious pride in your (Vaughan Gething’s) truly historic election; of agreeing to serve in your government and being determined to do my very best in that role; and the great UK election result.
“On the other hand, the serious issues of your campaign donations; the real mistakes in handling of those and other issues, which led up to your loss of the confidence vote in the Senedd and the continuing and seemingly never-ending series of related issues that have followed.
“In these circumstances, I see no way to agreeing a budget nor how we can achieve our legislative ambitions. In particular, given recent conversations with cabinet colleagues, I can see no real route to agreeing the passage of the radical transformational homelessness legislation which will obviously need cross party support.
“This cannot be what you wanted and must have caused you and your family a lot of pain and I think has visibly caused huge divisions in the group and damaged both the country and the party. I think it also now threatens the continued existence of the devolution journey itself.
“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 I had asked you, in the interest of the country and the party to stand down immediately.”
‘Day of shame’ say Welsh Conservatives
Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies has coined today ‘a day of shame’ for Labour. He said:
“The self indulgence we’ve seen throughout Vaughan Gething’s leadership has resulted in the breakdown of governance in Wales. But ministers like Jeremy Miles who served in Gething’s cabinet are equally culpable. Wales will remember.”
Lesley Griffiths ‘hardest letter written in my career’
Cabinet secretary for culture and social justice Lesley Griffiths has said that her letter of resignation is the hardest and most upsetting letter she has been felt compelled to write in her career, she said:
“I have reached the conclusion that we (Labour) simply will not be able to put things back on track under your (Vaughan Gething’s) leadership, leaving me with only one realistic option at this point.”
Plaid Cymru call resigning ministers to account
Rhun Ap Iorweth, leader of Plaid Cymru has echoed the Welsh Conservatives in saying that the resigned ministers are equally culpable. He said:
“The disrepute of Welsh politics is as much the fault of the ministers resigning today as the first minister himself.
“Vaughan Gething has led a government of chaos and put his own self-interest before the interests of the people of Wales.”
Welsh Lib Dems call for change
Leader of the Welsh Lib Dems Jane Dodds has said:
“Vaughan Gething has now lost both the confidence of the Senedd and several members of his own Government; he must resign from his position as First Minister.
“We cannot afford to allow internal fighting in Welsh labour to distract us any longer from the range of serious issues facing our country.
“The Welsh people are sick and tired of constant political scandals and broken promises, they want to see a political system that works for them.
“We as the Welsh Liberal Democrats will deliver that change”.
This is a significant development in the current political climate in Wales and marks a major blow to Vaughan Gething’s ability to lead as First Minister. His time as First Minister teeters on the brink of collapse, with his cabinet falling apart and damning statements from the ministers as well as opposition party leaders, the question now stands – “Will Gething Go?”
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