Gething to face no confidence vote next week

The no confidence vote in Vaughan Gething is on for next Wedneday

The first minster will face a vote of no confidence in his leadership in the Senedd next Wednesday.

The Welsh Conservatives have tabled the vote on Vaughan Gething after weeks of controversy over donations to his recent leadership campaign.

There have also been question marks over Covid-era text messages and the sacking of a minister for allegedly leaking information to the media, something she denies.

Mr Gething, who was backed by Sir Keir Starmer on Wednesday, told BBC Wales he was "not expecting" to lose the vote.

The UK Labour leader said Mr Gething was "doing a good job" and "I'm looking forward to being with him in this campaign where we will campaign together for, what I hope will be, the next Labour government".

If Mr Gething were to lose the result would not be binding on the first minister, but it would put him in a difficult position.

It would also come at an awkward time for the wider UK Labour Party, in the middle of a general election campaign.

Welsh Liberal Democrat Jane Dodds says she will back the motion.

For the vote to succeed Plaid Cymru would have to back it and at least one Labour Senedd member would have to abstain, and effectively rebel.

Labour holds 30 of the 60 seats in the Senedd chamber.

BBC Wales has been told Plaid's Senedd group is yet to discuss the matter but will probably support the motion.

But playing down the prospect of a rebellion, a Labour MS said: "A proper joint motion without obvious partisan motivation is the way to test backbench doubters, not this."

"Parties unite in election campaigns."

The leader of the Conservatives in the Senedd Andrew RT Davies said: "The litany of unanswered questions has paralysed the Welsh government to the point that Gething has been completely unable to take action to address record NHS waiting lists, sliding educational attainment and high economic inactivity.

“It’s time to put an end to the obfuscation, the drift and the infighting and vote no confidence in Vaughan Gething.”

Mr Gething has faced huge pressure after accepting £200,000 of donations to his recent Welsh Labour leadership campaign from a company whose owner was convicted of environmental offences.

The first minister has always maintained that they were declared and registered in accordance with the rules.

The £31,000 of unspent campaign funding is being donated by the Labour Party to "progressive causes".

Conservative Andrew RT Davies says people have "serious questions" about the donations

During an election campaign visit to Anglesey, with UK shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves, the first minister said: "I'm not expecting to lose a vote of no confidence."

He said he was "very, very proud to be first minister" and was "being very positive about my future as the leader of my party and, indeed, all the things I want to do as a leader of my country".

Mr Gething added that he was "very focused" on the election campaign and "getting on with the day job of being the first minister - that's my job, it's exactly what I'm doing".

Ms Reeves said she had "absolute confidence in Vaughan Gething" and called the no confidence vote a "really a desperate gimmick from the Conservative Party".

Plaid withdrew from its co-operation agreement with the Welsh Labour government in the Senedd earlier in May ahead of the original expiration date of December.

The agreement saw Plaid support Welsh Labour ministers in getting their budget through the Senedd in return for joint work on 46 policy areas, including free school meals, Senedd reform and farming subsidies.

Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth said: “It’s Labour themselves, and Keir Starmer in particular who’ll decide if Vaughan Gething stays or goes, and they'll back him.

"In accepting £200,000 from a convicted polluter, we obviously believe Vaughan Gething has undermined the office of first minister and the people of Wales’ confidence."

He added: "There's such an irony in the Conservatives, mired in so many scandals of their own, bringing forward this vote."

Welsh Liberal Democrat leader Jane Dodds said she would support the no confidence motion.

"This vote is about cleaning up politics in Wales. We all expect our leaders to meet the high standards that their office requires, and the first minister has not met those standards."

The context around the vote is different to recent events in Scotland where the former first minister Humza Yousaf abruptly ended the power-sharing arrangement with the Greens and resigned before facing a vote of no confidence, which without Green support he was not certain of winning.