First Minister hit by more accusations

THE narrative around First Minister Vaughan Gething’s first weeks in power have not been what he wanted, to say the least, and yesterday his plan for a different Wales took another hit through another own goal.

He faces accusations that he tried to delete messages during the Covid pandemic to avoid them being released at a later date if someone requested them under the Freedom of Information Act.

He insists he was simply warning colleagues to watch what they said, because they could become public.

Mr Gething has told the UK Covid Inquiry, under oath, that all his messages were lost during a “security rebuild” of his phone in 2022 by the Senedd’s IT team.

Yesterday, he called the accusations he had lied to the inquiry “obnoxious” and said he has sent an unredacted thread of the messages to the Covid inquiry. An inquiry spokesperson said it was considering “whether it is necessary to seek further evidence from Mr Gething.”

We have been told that Mr Gething did not actually delete any messages, despite him telling his colleagues that he would.

A source close to the First Minister says his comments to the inquiry stand and the text thread in question has been sent to them.

It is entirely possible that Mr Gething has not misled the inquiry.

He was sending messages to colleagues about a Labour group meeting and the thread that has been released doesn’t talk about policy. But it is another disastrous look for Mr Gething – and also a sign someone in a private group is briefing against him.

Yesterday at First Minister’s Questions, Mr Gething was on the back foot again. The level of criticism he is facing in such a short time has echoes of Liz Truss’ disastrous premiership which saw her step aside after just 50 days.

We recently spoke to Welsh Labour sources who believe the donations controversy is “grubby” and who feel “bruised, frustrated, and let down”.

Yesterday, Mr Gething appeared to back down slightly and suggested a Senedd committee should look into donations to politicians after weeks of controversy. But he has already turned down calls for an independent inquiry.

There is no suggestion that Mr Gething’s leadership is in peril, but the narrative isn’t about his policies or his first days in office, but decisions he made before getting the top job he so coveted.