Welsh Lib Dems to vote against First Minister in no-confidence vote
The Welsh Liberal Democrats have announced they will vote against the First Minister Vaughan Gething in a no-confidence vote expected in the Senedd next week.
Mr Gething will face the motion of no confidence in the Senedd on Wednesday (5 June) following scandals over campaign donations and deleted messages from during the Covid pandemic.
The Welsh Conservatives tabled the motion following the collapse of the co-operation deal between Labour and Plaid Cymru.
Judgement
Concerns were raised about Mr Gething’s judgement after Nation.Cymru revealed that he accepted a £200,000 donation from a man twice convicted of environmental offences during his campaign to become Welsh Labour leader.
The UK Labour Party subsequently refused to accept the £31,000 which was left over from the campaign.
The First Minister said the left over cash will be offered to “progressive causes” instead.
Mr Gething has also been criticised for refusing to show any evidence to explain why he sacked junior minister Hannah Blythyn.
A previously unseen iMessage sent during the Covid-19 pandemic was revealed by Nation.Cymru earlier this month.
It appeared to show the then health minister’s intention to delete a discussion with ministers because it could be subject to freedom of information legislation.
Ms Blythyn was accused of being the source of the leaked message – an allegation she denied saying: “Integrity is all in politics and I retain mine.”
‘Cleaning up politics in Wales’
Commenting ahead of the vote, Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader and Mid & West Wales Senedd Member Jane Dodds said: “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.
“Vaughan Gething has had the opportunity over the recent months to do the right thing and return the donation yet has failed to do so.
“The Liberal Democrats want to see a different kind of politics in Wales and across the UK and that’s why we have called for a cap on donations to political parties.”
Welsh Tory leader Andrew RT Davies said: “Next week Senedd Members will have the chance to have their say on Vaughan Gething’s judgment, his transparency, and his truthfulness.
“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.”
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When Welsh Labour selected Mark Drakeford as their leader, I thought that he’d be utterly dismal, but he turned out not to be. And when Drakeford stood down and they chose the smooth and urbane Gething as his successor, my hunch was that, on balance, they’d probably made the right choice.
Turns out that I’m not very good at this particular sort of prediction, so I probably need to be more circumspect in future!
I suspect Gething will survive. He may well, as rumoured, not have been the preferred choice of a majority of his Senedd colleagues, but the Labour group has an established track record of tribal solidarity and I can’t see them doing anything which would cause him to fall – least of all as a result of a Conservative motion.
Will Hannah Blythyn have the deciding vote?
When will Welsh Lib. Demand vote for anything that is the question.
I am a bit better at political predictions but it is increasingly notoriously difficult as the vote is skewed over numerous parties and also a key forthcoming U.K. General Election where investment in jobs is crucial could be decided by who does NOT vote. South Wales is tribally loyal to Labour and in my opinion for far too long as New Labour failed on investment and creating jobs. Ministers Hain and Ainger both were not even welsh raised nor is Mr Gethin and knew little about the local economy and did even less to advance living standards. Garfield John Smith.… Read more »
The problem with the senedd is that it’s just more politicians and therefore more corruption and more incompetence and more tax payers spending. Get rid and unite our country.