Vaughan Gething won the leadership contest for the Welsh Labour Party on Saturday, becoming the first black leader of a semi-autonomous Welsh government.
“Today, we turn a page in the book of our nation’s history… not just because I have the honour of becoming the first black leader in any European country, but because the generational dial has jumped too,” Gething, 50, said in a speech after the result was announced.
Gething will succeed Mark Drakeford, who in December announced his departure after five years in charge of the Welsh government.
Keir Starmer, leader of the UK Labour Party likely to take power in national elections scheduled for later this year, congratulated Gething in a statement.
“His appointment as first minister of Wales, the first black leader in the UK, will be a historic moment that speaks to the progress and values of modern-day Wales,” Starmer said in a statement.
Drakeford will step down as Wales’ first minister on 19 March, the Labour Party said in a statement. The Welsh parliament, the Senedd, will formally elect the next leader on 20 March.
Rishi Sunak congratulated Gething on his victory and said on social media that he was ready for constructive co-operation.
Vaughan Gething was born in Zambia to a white Welsh father and a black Zambian mother. When he takes office, the heads of three of the four UK governments will be non-white. Sunak is of Indian descent and the parents of Scotland’s first pro-independence minister, Humza Yousaf, migrated from Pakistan.
