GETHING REPLACED AS HEALTH MINISTER
First Minister overhauls Welsh Government cabinet:
VAUGHAN Gething has been replaced as Wales’ Health Minister as part of First Minister Mark Drakeford’s cabinet reshuffle.
Eluned Morgan will take over responsibilities for health and social care with Mr Gething moved to look after the economy brief, replacing Ken Skates who leaves the Welsh Government to rejoin the back benches.
Jeremy Miles becomes the new Education Minister after Welsh Liberal Democrat Kirsty Williams, who had been in the role since 2016, decided not to stand for reelection.
Mr Gething has led Wales’ coronavirus pandemic response and served as Health Minister for the previous five years of the last government.
Yesterday’s reshuffle comes after Welsh Labour won 30 of the Senedd’s 60 seats in last week’s election – one short of an outright majority – with Mr Drakeford set to lead a minority government.
In a statement Mr Skates said: “This week I informed the First Minister of my wish to step away from Welsh Government. After eight years in government, now is the right time.
“Clwyd South has always remained my number-one priority and my decision will enable me to spend more time in the constituency, focusing on local matters, as well as further strengthening the party’s position in north Wales and further afield.
“I will continue to be a loyal supporter of First Minister Mark Drakeford and our Welsh Labour Government from the back benches.
“Above all I will spend the next five years focusing relentlessly on helping the people and communities of Clwyd South as the local Member of the Senedd.”
Mr Drakeford said: “Ken has been a real strength in cabinet and a voice for north Wales.
“He will continue speaking up for north Wales and for Welsh Labour but in a different role.
“We will miss his energy and passion.
“Vaughan becomes Economy Minister at a crucial point in time – the pandemic is not just a public health emergency but also an economic one.”
Mr Drakeford said Mr Gething’s efforts during the pandemic had been “extraordinary” but he felt it was time “to ask someone else to take on that challenge”.
When asked whether he had decided to move Mr Gething from health to economy or if Mr Gething had asked to move, Mr Drakeford declined to answer.
“We discussed it together,” he said. “It’s a big decision for the government and for him, given the fantastic job that he has done in Wales to keep Wales safe.
“Vaughan Gething has been Health Minister for seven years and I can tell you, having been Health Minister, it’s an enormously demanding job.
“The other strand of the pandemic is the economic crisis and dealing with the economic aftermath is coming to the fore in the coming months and we decided together that his talent and his commitment and ability were best used to help us with that.”
Pressed on whether the midst of a pandemic was the time to change his Health Minister, Mr Drakeford said: “We’re not in the middle of it. We’re emerging from it and the position we’re in in Wales today, we have the lowest number of deaths anywhere in the UK and the
best vaccination figures anywhere in the UK.
“We are very fortunate we have had Eluned Morgan as a health minister in cabinet in the recent party, which means she is in the best position to take up the responsibilities that are still with us due to the pandemic but also rebuilding the health service.
“I think we’re very fortunate to have Vaughan Gething, with all that he brings, to focus on that economic dynamic and Eluned Morgan with all her experience and ability with rebuilding.”
Mr Gething said: “I am delighted to have been asked by the First Minister to take on the role as Minister for Economy.
“It has been an honour to serve the people of Wales as Health Minister during these unprecedented times. I am looking forward to playing my part in the recovery after Covid.
“I will focus on moving the economy forward, creating jobs, apprenticeships, to help build a stronger, fairer Wales.”
Tourism is not explicitly mentioned in any of the titles but Mr Drakeford confirmed it would still be in the economic portfolio held now by Mr Gething.
He said full details of the sectors for which ministers will be responsible are yet to be published.
Julie James will head up a new climate change department with Llanelli MS Lee Waters as deputy minister.
Mr Drakeford said he had put the transport brief into climate change to deal with the three biggest drivers of carbon production.
“Our houses, our travel and how we produce energy are the three great drivers of carbon in our lives and I want to bring them together with planning and environment to create a powerful new climate change ministry to make sure Wales plays our part in the next five years in the twin emergency of biodiversity losses and climate change,” said the First Minister.
Mr Drakeford said he chose Neath MS Mr Miles, formerly the Counsel General and Minister for Brexit, as Education Minister because he is “immensely able”.
He added: “Nowhere is that more important than with our young people and our education system.
“I wanted to bring responsibility for the Welsh language together with education because of our ambitious target to get a million Welsh-speakers by 2050 and if we’re to succeed in that we have to grow those speakers of the future in our schools, and Jeremy is someone able to discharge both those responsibilities.
“It’s a major cabinet portfolio and he will bring all the strength that he has in making sure we make a success of the new curriculum and everything we want to in our university sector, and we need to make sure that the interface between the skills that we train people for through our further education colleges and the apprenticeship programme that runs alongside economic responsibilities, to make sure it guarantees what we offer in our manifesto on training or education for our young people.
“He will be working very closely with Vaughan on that shared agenda.”
This reshuffle will be seen in the context of Mr Drakeford’s comment that he won’t serve the full five years as First Minister, so the next Welsh Labour leader and First Minister is likely in the mix here.
Last time around Baroness Morgan
and Mr Gething both threw their hats in the ring, and Mr Miles is always talked about as a potential future leader.
Those three have arguably the biggest jobs here.
Leader of the opposition Andrew RT Davies said: “As the official opposition, Welsh Conservatives will scrutinise and hold ministers to account, but will also offer the hand of co-operation where possible to ensure Wales bounces back from the most difficult year we’ve experienced.
“And it’s in this spirit that I want to wish the First Minister and his new cabinet well as they start the significant task of ensuring our economy and public services get on the road to recovery.
“We’re proud Welshmen and women, and ultimately we need the government to succeed in the next couple of years if we are to see Wales turn the page on one of our most difficult chapters.”
Sioned Williams, Plaid Cymru MS for South Wales West, said: “The new government will need to convince the people of Wales that this reshuffle is more than a game of musical chairs.
“While it is welcome that there is a greater focus on climate change and mental health, new ministers in other portfolios must address the policy shortcomings and lack of delivery of their predecessors.
“With record waiting lists, a low-wage economy and one in three children living in poverty – all there before the pandemic and all on Labour’s watch – we are in danger of getting the same results if ministers do the same thing over and over again.”