Vaughan Gething

Vaughan Gething
Member of the Welsh Assembly
for Cardiff South and Penarth
Assumed office
6 May 2011
Preceded by Lorraine Barrett
Majority 6,259 (22.8%)
Cabinet Secretary for Health, Well-being and Sport
Assumed office
19 May 2016
First Minister Carwyn Jones
Preceded by Mark Drakeford
Deputy Minister for Health
In office
September 2014 – May 2016
First Minister Carwyn Jones
Minister Mark Drakeford
Preceded by Position established
Succeeded by Post re-organised
Personal details
Nationality Welsh
Political party Labour Co-operative
Alma mater University of Wales
Occupation Solicitor, Trade unionist
Website Welsh Labour

Vaughan Gething (born 1974) is a AM Welsh Labour Co-operative politician, who has represented the constituency of Cardiff South and Penarth since the National Assembly for Wales election of 2011.[1]

Early life

Gething was born in Zambia in 1974, where his father (whom Gething describes as "a white Welsh economic migrant") was working as a vet.[2] His mother is a black Zambian.[2] When he was two he moved to Dorset, England with his family, which includes three brothers and a sister.[2] He studied at Beaminster Comprehensive and Sixth Form followed by Aberystwyth University and at the Cardiff Law School, University of Wales.[2][3] Gething became president of Aberystwyth University Guild of Students and the first black president of the National Union of Students Wales.[2][4]

Professional career

Having completed his training as a solicitor in Cardiff in 2001, with the trade union solicitors Thompsons, Gething chose to specialise in employment law. He became a partner in Thompsons in 2007.[3]

In 2008, at the age of 34, Gething became the youngest President of Wales TUC, also becoming the first black person in the role.[5]

Political career

Gething joined the Labour Party when he was 17, to campaign in the 1992 UK general election.[2] He was a councillor from 2004 to 2008, representing Butetown electoral ward on Cardiff Council, having been elected with a majority of two votes.[3][6] Gething was selected as the Welsh Labour candidate for the Cardiff South and Penarth constituency at the National Assembly for Wales. Lorraine Barrett, who had represented Cardiff South and Penarth since the Assembly's creation in 1999, had announced her intention to stand down at the 2011 election. At the National Assembly for Wales election on 5 May 2011, Gething increased the Labour vote with a swing of 12.5%. At 13,814, his share of the vote was over 50%, giving him a majority of 6,259 over the Welsh Conservative Party candidate, Ben Gray, placed second.[1][7] At the following 2016 Welsh Assembly election, Gething once again increased his majority in terms of vote share.

Following the 2016 Welsh Assembly election, Gething was promoted to Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Sport.

Gething is considered to be the front runner to replace Carwyn Jones as First Minister of Wales, partially due to his strong links with Labour-supporting trade unions [8]

Personal life

Gething and his wife Michelle live in Penarth, where he has lived since 2011.[6] He is a member of the GMB trade union.[5]

Offices held

National Assembly for Wales
Preceded by
Lorraine Barrett		 Assembly Member for Cardiff South and Penarth
2011–present 		Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by
(new post)		 Deputy Minister for Health
2014 - 2016 		Succeeded by
Post re-organised
Preceded by
Mark Drakeford		 Cabinet Secretary for Health, Well-being and Sport
2016 - present 		Succeeded by
Incumbent

References

  1. 1 2 "Wales elections > Cardiff South and Penarth". BBC News. BBC. 6 May 2011. Retrieved 12 May 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Owen, Paul (3 August 2009). "Black Welshman aims to take the fight to the BNP". The Guardian. Manchester: Guardian News and Media. Retrieved 12 May 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 "Vaughan Gething Assembly selection 2011" (PDF). Welsh Labour. 2011. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
  4. ↑ Crecsi, Elena (15 March 2013). "From student unions to the Senedd and Westminster, how do today's youth become tomorrow's AMs and MPs?". Wales Online. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
  5. 1 2 "Morgan urges Labour to hold firm". BBC News. BBC. 23 May 2008. Retrieved 12 May 2011.
  6. 1 2 "Vaughan Gething-about". Vaughan Gething. 2011. Retrieved 12 May 2011.
  7. ↑ Blake, Aled (6 May 2011). "Assembly election: Meet the incoming AMs". WalesOnline website. Media Wales Ltd. Retrieved 12 May 2011.
  8. ↑ Shipton, Martin. "WalesOnline". Retrieved 24 August 2016.
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