LONDON (AP) — The leader of Wales’ government, First Minister Vaughan Gething, said Tuesday he will resign after several members of his government quit over a campaign donation scandal.
Gething said that “I have this morning taken the difficult decision to begin the process of stepping down as leader of the Welsh Labour Party and, as a result, First Minister.”
The announcement came after four members of Gething’s semiautonomous government quit, demanding he resign.
Gething, the son of a Welsh father and a Zambian mother, made history in March when he was elected by Welsh lawmakers to head the Cardiff-based administration, becoming the first Black leader of a government in the U.K.
He has faced criticism for accepting 200,000 pounds ($255,000) in donations during his leadership campaign from a recycling company whose owner had been found guilty of environmental offenses and breaching health and safety regulations. Another company with the same owner was given a loan by the government-owned Development Bank of Wales in 2023 when Gething was economy minister.
His leadership has crumbled since the Welsh nationalist party Plaid Cymru ended a cooperation arrangement with Gething’s minority Labour government in April.
Gething’s relations with some in his own party soured when he fired government minister Hannah Blythyn for allegedly leaking private phone messages about the COVID-19 pandemic to the media. She denies it.
In June, Gething lost a nonbinding no-confidence vote in Wales’ parliament, the Senedd, but said then that he would stay in his job.
In a resignation statement, Gething said he had “hoped that over the summer a period of reflection, rebuilding and renewal could take place under my leadership.
“I recognize that this is not possible,” he added.
He denied wrongdoing, saying; “My integrity matters. I have not compromised it.”
Wales, which has a population of about 3 million, is one of four parts of the United Kingdom, along with England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The British government in London is responsible for defense, foreign affairs and other U.K.-wide issues, while administrations in Cardiff, Edinburgh and Belfast control areas such as education and health.
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