Eluned Morgan is set to become Welsh Labour’s new leader after she ran unopposed.
Baroness Morgan, 57, is to replace Vaughan Gething as head of Welsh Labour after he stepped down last Tuesday following the protest resignation of four members of his government.
She will be Welsh Labour’s first female leader and is set to become Wales’s first female first minister.
Nominations closed at midday on Wednesday and a campaign of nearly two months was due to take place, however, Baroness Morgan was the only person on the list of candidates.
The Senedd has to now vote on who becomes the next first minister.
The Welsh Conservatives have called for the Senedd to be recalled from summer recess so they can vote as the timeline has been brought forward due to Baroness Morgan being the sole contender for Welsh Labour leader.
As Welsh Labour holds the highest number of seats in the Senedd, it is expected Baroness Morgan will be voted through as first minister.
Mr Gething has said he will stay on until his replacement is appointed.
Baroness Morgan (R) with Vaughan Gething in the Senedd. Pic: Senedd Cymru / Welsh parliament
Who is Baroness Morgan?
Baroness Morgan entered politics aged 27 as the youngest Member of the European Parliament.
She then served as director of national development for electricity company SWALEC for four years and was granted a life peerage in that time.
Re-entering politics in 2016, she became a Member of the Senedd (MS) and served as Welsh language minister and mental health minister before being made health secretary during the COVID pandemic in 2021.
In 2023, she faced a motion of no confidence following heavy criticism of her handling of a crisis at Wales’s largest health board, Betsi Cadwaladr, which was placed back into special measures.
She survived the no confidence motion by three votes.
Pic: Welsh government
Vaughan Gething scandal
Mr Gething made history in March when he became the first black leader of any European country.
However, he continually faced questions over a £200,000 donation to his leadership campaign from a company owned by a man twice convicted of environmental offences.
Critics said Mr Gething’s leadership campaign should not have accepted the money, but the first minister said the donation was within the rules and was declared in line with party protocol.
A row also ensued after he sacked minister Hannah Blythyn for allegedly leaking phone messages, which she denied and a newspaper later said she was not their source.
Plaid Cymru then pulled out of its co-operation agreement with Mr Gething’s government.
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When he resigned, Mr Gething published evidence he said underpinned his decision to sack Ms Blythyn, including that a screengrab of the leak did not show her initials – suggesting it must have come from her phone.
But this came after the resignations of the ministers, which made his position untenable.