Vaughan Gething, 50, was named leader of the Welsh Labor Party on Saturday March 16, which should guarantee him the appointment as First Minister of Wales in the coming days, his party being the largest in the Senedd , the Welsh Regional Parliament. This former Minister of Health during the Covid-19 pandemic will replace at the head of the executive Mark Drakeford, 69, also Labor, who announced his resignation in December 2023. This austere political leader, former teacher at the University from Cardiff, had promised, upon his arrival in 2018, to only stay five years in his post.
A lawyer by training, having learned his trade in union action, his successor embodies a new generation. Born in Zambia, to a Welsh father and a Zambian mother, Vaughan Gething would become the first black head of government of the United Kingdom and, beyond that, of a European nation. With his arrival, three of the country’s four Nations are now led by men from ethnic minorities: Rishi Sunak, the conservative British prime minister, is of Indian origin; Humza Yousaf, his Scottish counterpart and leader of the pro-independence Scottish National Party, is of Pakistani origin. In Northern Ireland, it is a woman, Michelle O’Neill, from the island’s Catholic community, who heads the executive.
These appointments reflect the undeniable tolerance of the former colonial power, where, according to the 2021 census, 18% of the population comes from the 19 categories of ethnic minorities listed by the National Statistics Office. Mr Gething said he was pleased that with his designation, Wales “turns a page in its history. (…) This means that more people [issus des minorités] will say to themselves that they too can consider a career in politics.
However, inequalities based on ethnicity are far from having disappeared in the country and racism is still sometimes expressed out loud. For several days, the Conservative Party has been facing accusations of institutional racism, after its main donor, businessman Frank Hester, made racist remarks against MP Diane Abbott, who also marked made history by being the first black woman elected to Westminster in 1987. Mr. Hester, who contributed £10 million to the Conservative Party, said Guardianhaving said of the chosen one that her sight made him want “ to hate all black women” and that it would be necessary “ go down Mme Abbott ». Downing Street took two days before describing these remarks as “ racist » and the Tories are still resisting calls to return the money given to Mr Hester.
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