Vaughan Gething won the Welsh Labour Party leadership contest on Saturday, and is set to become the first Black leader of Wales’ semi-autonomous government.
Gething, who is currently Welsh economy minister, narrowly beat Education Minister Jeremy Miles in a race to replace First Minister Mark Drakeford. Drakeford announced late last year he would step down once a replacement was chosen.
Gething, 50, won 51.7% of the votes cast by members of the party and affiliated trade unions, and Miles 48.3%.
Once he is confirmed next week by the Welsh parliament, the Senedd, where Labour is the largest party, Gething will become the fifth first minister since Wales’ national legislature was established in 1999.
It’s certainly no bad thing, perhaps it is something of a milestone although he just looks like any other mixed race British guy to me. Although the cynical side of me says the Conservatives use race as a smokescreen or means to confound the public when pushing unpopular policies (I’m aware he’s not a member of that political party, I’m just highlighting a way in which I feel representation can be weaponised for “spin” purposes).