Why was Vaughan Gething allowed to attend Investment Summit when other MSs were barred?

Martin Shipton

Some Labour MSs have questioned why former First Minister Vaughan Gething was given pride of place at an investment summit when they were told they couldn’t attend it.

The summit took place at the International Convention Centre Wales in Newport on December 1.

Hosted by First Minister Eluned Morgan, it has been hailed as a success, with more than 150 of the companies and organisations which attended not currently having a presence in Wales.

But the event was not immune to behind-the-scenes rows, with sources suggesting that Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens in effect boycotted it because she was not offered a prime speaking spot.

Now there appears to be some annoyance over the fact that Mr Gething – a former Economy Minister but currently a backbencher – was given a role in the summit, while other MSs who wanted to attend were not allowed to.

A Labour Senedd group source told Nation.Cymru: “Vaughan announced more than a year ago that he would not be seeking re-election to the Senedd in 2026. Obviously he will have a living to earn and being seen at the summit will have done him no harm.”

In a Written Statement to the Senedd this week, Baroness Morgan said the Summit had “spotlighted six sectors where Wales is already leading the way, and which are primed for growth: tech and digital, life sciences, compound semiconductors, advanced manufacturing, creative industries, and clean energy. These align well with the UK Government’s Industrial Strategy. This breadth underscores the dynamic and increasingly diversified nature of Wales’ economic offer.”

A spokesperson for the Welsh Government said: “At the beginning of this year, the First Minister asked Vaughan Gething to support the delivery of an aspect of the Wales Investment Summit. He was tasked with engaging life science companies and chaired the life sciences panel at the Summit.”

In May this year Nation.Cymru told how senior Labour figures had suggested that Vaughan Gething might resign from the Senedd, triggering a by-election at a difficult time for Welsh Labour. We had spoken to a number of Labour sources about Mr Gething’s future, having been prompted to do so after receiving an email that suggested he might resign his Cardiff South and Penarth seat. The author of the email said they had been at a wedding where Labour people had openly been talking about the possibility of his resignation.

We then received a message from another Labour source suggesting Mr Gething had asked Baroness Morgan to give him a leading role in the December 1 investment summit. According to the source, Mr Gething had said he would resign from the Senedd if his wish was not granted.

As a result, we spoke to a number of other Labour sources, some of whom confirmed they had heard of the possibility that Mr Gething might resign his seat and that this could be linked to his wish to take a prominent role in the investment summit.

‘Insistent’

One said at the time: “He is very insistent that he should have a leading role in the investment summit that Eluned has announced, even though he is now just a backbencher.

“It’s clearly not in Labour’s interest to have a by-election at a time when Reform UK is doing very well in the polls. While Cardiff South and Penarth is one of the least likely Labour seats in Wales to fall to Reform, nothing could be guaranteed, especially at a by-election. It’s a headache Eluned Morgan can do without.”

Shavanah Taj, the General Secretary of TUC Cymru, later confirmed she had been approached by a senior party official about being Labour’s candidate in such a by-election.

A spokesperson for the Welsh Government said in May 2025 that Mr Gething may have an involvement in the investment summit because of his previous role as Health Minister, in which capacity he had a knowledge of biosciences, a crucial contributor to Wales’ economy.