Welsh minister in a bid to make history
VAUGHAN Gething could be the first black head of a European country after a fourth big union backed him to succeed Mark Drakeford as Welsh Labour leader and therefore Wales First Minister.
Unison has joined Unite, the Communication Workers and the GMB to support him – a far cry from the days when Vaughan’s family struggled with rejection and racism after arriving in the UK. The Economy Minister says: “I’m standing because I think I have all the experience, values and vision for the future – but you can’t ignore the historic nature of what would happen if I win – for Black boys and girls to see someone in the highest office in Wales who looks like them and understands what it’s like growing up like them.”
Vaughan’s dad David was a white vet from Glamorgan who met his chicken farmer mum Beritha in Zambia while working for the government there. They moved to the UK in 1976, after David was offered a job near Abergavenny.
But when the veterinary practice saw him arrive with a Black family, the offer was withdrawn. “They sent my father a cheque to cover his travel – which he returned,” says Vaughan, 49. Before his current job as Economy Minister, he spent seven years in Health and oversaw Wales’ Covid response. “The NHS is personal to me,” he says. As a student he had thendeadly kidney disorder nephrotic syndrome, which left him like a “zombie”. The NHS treated him with a new drug and he fully recovered.
“In a different country, without an NHS, it’s entirely possible that wouldn’t have happened.” He’s proud of leading the department through the pandemic.“there was no VIP lane scandal here,” he says. Vaughan is up against Education Minister Jeremy Miles in the race to become Welsh Labour leader later this year.