Vaughan Gething branded ‘arrogant and insulting’ for comments to BBC journalist

Emily Price

Vaughan Gething has been branded “arrogant and insulting” for comments made to a female journalist during a BBC interview which aired at the weekend.

Welsh Conservative MS, Tom Giffard said the Politics Wales interview marked a “bad start” for the incoming first minister.

On Saturday (March 16) it was announced Mr Gething had narrowly won the Welsh Labour leadership election against Jeremy Miles with 51.7% of the vote.

His campaign has been mired in controversy over donations and about the role of unions in nominating him.

On Sunday (March 17), the new Welsh Labour leader was quizzed by the BBC’s Teleri Glyn Jones.

Lobbied

She pressed the incoming first minister on a £200,000 donation he accepted from a company run by a man twice convicted for environmental offences.

The senior broadcaster said: “You lobbied the regulator on the company’s behalf twice – and then it emerges during the campaign that they’ve put in their planning application for a solar farm that needs Welsh Government approval. It just doesn’t look good does it?”

Mr Gething responded saying any “serious journalist” knows that in a constituency MSs are not entitled to make decisions as a minister.

He said: “Eight years ago I wrote to Natural Resources Wales as a constituency member, it is not lobbying – lobbying is a loaded word, as we know.

“As a constituency member it is literally your job to represent your constituents, individuals and businesses.

“On the solar farm, this is a little frustrating, because every serious journalist knows, in your constituency, you’re not entitled to make decisions as a minister.”

The senior political reporter laughed and replied: “I won’t take that personally.”

Mr Gething was also asked whether he will return the £200,000 donation as suggested by leaders of both Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Conservatives.

He said: “There’s nothing wrong with what we’ve done.”

Questions

Shadow culture minister Tom Giffard said it was right that the Welsh media raise questions about Mr Gething’s campaign.

He said: “Vaughan Gething’s comments, where he suggested that anyone asking him about the donations to his campaign was not a ‘serious journalist’ were arrogant and insulting.

“The new Labour leader doesn’t seem to understand that the role of the media is to ask politicians uncomfortable questions.

“The likely incoming First Minister’s £200,000 donation simply doesn’t pass the smell test, and it is clearly in the public interest for him to be asked about it.

“Vaughan Gething is probably in the weakest position of any incoming First Minister – narrowly winning the race without a majority of his own Senedd Members backing him.

“Questioning the professionalism of a journalist doing their job won’t give all those Labour MSs who didn’t back him in the first place any more confidence that he’s the right man for the job.”

Plaid Cymru’s Mabon ap Gwynfor also shared the clip on X saying: “The newly elected leader of Labour in Wales has started his term by effectively challenging the right of journalists to scrutinise his decisions.

“This augers badly for the Government and Welsh democracy.  He needs to accept criticism and return the money.”

It’s not the first time Mr Gething has been criticised for his conduct during an interview with a journalist.

The former health minister was previously filmed walking away from an ITV journalist over calls for an inquiry into a health board’s actions.

In a more recent interview with ITV on past errors of judgement, the Welsh Labour leader said the incident had showed he is a “real human being”.

He told ITV: “I learned an awful lot from the interview incident quite a few years ago now, and it’s understanding that if you feel under pressure you can’t react in a way that reflects poorly on you and makes the situation worse.

“It’s that experience of having to do some of those difficult things and still to come back and be better as well.”

Vaughan Gething was invited to comment.