'Grey suits are out' - The story of Wales' new first minister

Eluned Morgan was 27 when she switched from a career in TV to become the youngest member of the European Parliament

Eluned Morgan has officially become the new first minister of Wales, making her the first woman to lead the nation.

She was confirmed as the new leader of Welsh Labour in July, following Vaughan Gething's resignation.

She won the support of almost all of Labour's politicians in the Welsh Parliament.

Ms Morgan said she hoped to “add my own distinctive contribution to this legacy”, adding: “Perhaps with a vibrant splash of colour. The grey suits are out.”

Who is Eluned Morgan?

Eluned Morgan with Neil Kinnock and his wife Glenys Kinnock as they wait for the results of the European Parliament election

Ms Morgan's journey to become first minister is the culmination of a political career that started young and has taken her to three parliaments.

She has previously referred to herself as a "bit of a disruptor", but she has been a politician almost her whole working life.

She had a political upbringing in Ely, Cardiff. Her father, Bob, was a vicar who led South Glamorgan council. Her mother, Elaine, was a councillor too.

Their home "was the headquarters for political activity in the west of Cardiff", she once said.

Future first ministers Rhodri Morgan and Mark Drakeford were part of their political circle.

From broadcaster to baroness

She was educated at Cardiff's Ysgol Glantaf and, with a scholarship, at the independent Atlantic College in the Vale of Glamorgan.

After university in Hull she worked in television before becoming the youngest member of the European Parliament when elected to it, aged 27, in 1994.

Eluned Morgan with Nicole Fontaine, the former president of the European Parliament, in 1994

Her ministerial biography says she was only the fifth full-time female politician from Wales - and the first from Wales to have a baby while in office.

After standing down as an MEP in 2009 she went to work for the energy company SSE.

Granted a peerage in 2011, she went to the House of Lords where, as Baroness Morgan of Ely, she was a shadow minister for Wales.

Leadership ambitions

In 2016 she swapped Westminster's parliament for the parliament in Cardiff Bay, then still called the assembly, getting elected for the Mid and West Wales region.

Her first leadership bid only got off the ground because outgoing first minister Carwyn Jones lent her a nomination.

Morgan came last behind eventual winner Drakeford and second-placed Gething.

Eluned Morgan (right) previously ran to become first minister in 2018, but was beaten by Mark Drakeford (centre left)

Drakeford appointed her to his government, before elevating her to the toughest job in the cabinet - health minister - in 2021.

She inherited the devastating legacy of Covid and soaring waiting times.

Her time in the job has seen industrial action and an acrimonious decision to put north Wales's underperforming health board back into special measures.

Running the NHS on a tight budget would be "hell on earth", she said in 2022.

It was a characteristically blunt assessment from someone who is known to speak her mind.

Driving ban

The Covid inquiry revealed how she texted colleagues about the Omicron variant, declaring: "We're all f*****d!"

She apologised for the fruity language saying, it's "probably not what you want" from the daughter of a vicar whose husband, Rhys Jenkins, is a priest too. He is also a GP, and they have two children.

Ms Morgan apologised for embarrassing the Senedd when she was banned from driving for repeatedly speeding

There was another apology in June 2022 when she was banned from driving for six months for repeatedly speeding. And she apologised again the following year for a joke about the late Margaret Thatcher and a Conservative reshuffle.

Having gone for the top job once, she might have been expected to enter the contest to succeed Drakeford. But she backed her former rival Gething instead.

Asked if she hoped a new first minister would keep her in the health job at the time, she told ITV Wales: "Not necessarily. It's a very, very tough job I must say."

Despite the hint that she fancied a change, Gething retained her as health secretary - and she defended him when he came under pressure as leader.

Ms Morgan officially became first minister after being installed by the Senedd at a special meeting on Tuesday.

Being first minister and unifying Welsh Labour after a torrid few months will be an even more difficult task than the one she leaves behind.