The Welsh first minister who lasted 118 days

Vaughan Gething made history in March when he became the first black man to be elected Welsh Labour leader

Vaughan Gething has announced that he will quit as first minister of Wales after 118 days in the role.

Mr Gething made history in March when he became the first black man to be elected Welsh Labour leader.

But during his short time in Wales' top job, Mr Gething came under sustained attack - both for his decision to sack a cabinet minister and for a series of concerning donations he accepted while running to be leader.

This led to the collapse of a co-operation agreement between his party and Plaid Cymru, and he subsequently lost a non-binding vote of no confidence in the Senedd.

On Tuesday, several members of his cabinet resigned and called for him to step down.

Mr Gething responded with a statement announcing that he had taken the "difficult decision to begin the process of stepping down as leader of the Welsh Labour Party and, as a result, first minister".

"I had hoped that over the summer a period of reflection, rebuilding and renewal could take place under my leadership," Mr Gething continued.

"I recognise now that this is not possible."

Mr Gething, whose full name is Humphrey Vaughan ap David Gething, was born in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, in southern Africa in 1974.

His father, a vet from Ogmore-by-Sea in Bridgend, had moved there to work and met Mr Gething's mother, a chicken farmer.

Two years later they moved to Britain and Mr Gething's father was offered a job near Abergavenny in Monmouthshire.

However, after he arrived with his black family, that offer was withdrawn. They moved across the border to England and the young Vaughan spent his childhood in Dorset.

Mr Gething as a baby

Mr Gething returned to Wales as a student to study at Aberystwyth University, where he lived in the hall of residence, Pantycelyn, where the Welsh language was predominantly spoken.

"He knew more people than anyone else," said Eifion Williams, who was chairman of the university's Labour club at the time.

Mr Williams recalled "a lot of fun and banter" between Labour and Plaid Cymru supporters at the halls.

However, Mr Gething has said in the past his time there was "unpleasant" because of his political beliefs.

"I was surprised about learning how uncomfortable and how angry some of the division was between some Plaid Cymru supporters and the Labour Party," he said in an interview in 2018.

"There was a real personal unpleasant edge."

Lawyer turned politician

It was during his time at Aberystwyth that Mr Gething was diagnosed with Nephrotic syndrome a kidney disorder.

He had to restart his first year of studying law.

Recently he said it was only after a new drug was trialled that he was able to "look to the future with a feeling of optimism once again".

Mr Gething was elected president of the Students' Union in Aberystwyth, and then of the National Union of Students Wales.

He later went on to work as a lawyer, before turning to politics.

Vaughan Gething meets Keir Starmer following UK Labour's landslide general election win

He was first elected to the National Assembly for Wales, as it was called then, to represent Cardiff South and Penarth in 2011, at the same time as his party colleague Ken Skates.

Recalling their first encounter, Mr Skates said: "I realised that he had this burning desire to do something… to serve."

It was as Welsh health minister that Mr Gething made the biggest impression, as the Covid pandemic threw unprecedented attention on the Welsh government and increased his profile as a politician.

"No other politicians stepped up like Mark [Drakeford] and Vaughan," said Mr Skates.

"I was in awe of their ability to take the criticism, the hits, the unwarranted personal attacks and to remain focussed on protecting lives and livelihoods."

Donations scandal and minister sacked

Mr Gething became the first minister of Wales on 20 March 2024, following a Welsh Labour leadership race which saw him go head-to-head with Jeremy Miles MS.

But the campaign itself was marred by controversy over his acceptance of a £200,000 donation from a firm owned by a man previously convicted of environmental offences.

Mr Gething insisted that he followed the rules around campaign donations.

In May, Mr Gething sacked one of his cabinet ministers - Hannah Blythyn - after messages from the Covid pandemic were leaked to the website Nation.Cymru.

The leaked messages showed Mr Gething claiming he would delete all correspondence from an iMessage group of Welsh ministers.

But Ms Blythyn denied that she was the source of the leak and Nation.Cymru later said she was not the source of the information.

Mr Gething then said that the leaks “could only have been of one member’s phone”.

He provided no evidence publicly to support his claim at the time, but said he would “rather not go through this detail in public”.

In July, under pressure to produce evidence to support the sacking of Ms Blythyn, the Welsh government published the unredacted messages from two different copies of the group chat.

Mr Gething also faced questions from MS and the leaked messages were sent to the Covid inquiry.

Mr Gething after winning the Welsh Labour leadership contest in March

Later in May, Plaid Cymru ended its co-operation deal with Labour in the Senedd, after Plaid's leader Rhun ap Iorwerth said he was "deeply concerned" about the donations Mr Gething had accepted during his leadership campaign.

In June, Mr Gething lost a vote of no confidence in the Senedd - when two Labour members were off sick - but insisted he would not resign.

On Tuesday, four members of the Welsh government's cabinet resigned at the same time, calling for Mr Gething to go.

He responded with a statement confirming that he was stepping down.

"It has been the honour of my life to do this job even for a few short months," he said.

"I will now discuss a timetable for the election of new leader of my party."