What next in the Welsh leadership race?
We’re taking a look at the upcoming Welsh Labour leadership contest, where the next First Minister will be named. Two names are on the ballot, Vaughan Gething and Jeremy Miles, so now we take a look at the next steps, and what issues will be discussed over the coming weeks and months as the upcoming campaign is set to be the biggest ever.
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00:00 The role of First Minister is the most important in Welsh politics. For devolved matters it
00:05 works basically the same as the Prime Minister in the UK Parliament. So far in the history
00:10 of the Senedd we have had three or four depending on technicalities. The first leader of the
00:14 Senedd was Alan Michael way back when the Senedd was founded in 1999 in a role then
00:19 known as First Secretary for what was then known as the Welsh Assembly. It wasn't until
00:23 the second leader of Rodri Morgan in 2000 that the role was renamed to First Minister
00:27 which has stayed the same ever since. When Rodri Morgan left in 2009, Carwyn Jones took
00:32 the position for nine years until in 2017 when our current First Minister Mark Drakeford
00:37 took the helm. Five years later we're on the hunt for our next Premier. We've already
00:42 explored the candidates Jeremy Miles and Vaughan Gething but now we'll be looking at the
00:46 process of what's going to happen over the coming weeks and months in order to find the
00:50 next Welsh Labour and Senedd leader. It's important to remember that this, although
00:56 we'll find our next First Minister, the voting process and election process we'll
01:00 see between now and March is for the leader of Welsh Labour. So MS'ers, Labour Party
01:05 members and affiliates like trade unions will decide the next Welsh Labour leader and therefore
01:10 decide the next First Minister. Given how much the role of First Minister has changed
01:15 and grown over the last almost quarter of a century of devolution, this election is
01:19 set to be one of the most important and will certainly be the most high profile ever. The
01:24 two candidates both have plenty of experience in the Welsh Government and are more than
01:28 used to the cameras so it should turn out to be an intriguing contest.
01:34 First step was nominations. Vaughan Gething announced his initial first bid and comes
01:38 with the backing of 11 Senedd members with Jeremy Miles following suit, throwing his
01:42 name in the hat before getting 17 Senedd members back in. So a slight early lead for Miles
01:47 there. Next will be the campaign trail. This is the first one for Jeremy Miles who's
01:52 previously stood back from running despite questioning whether he would contest the leadership
01:56 but for Vaughan Gething it'll be his second attempt at running for leader having previously
02:01 finished just behind Mark Drakeford back in the last election. So experience may be on
02:06 his side. A number of issues will be hotly debated with
02:10 the Institute for Welsh Affairs saying that some of the key areas of interest will be
02:14 the NHS in Wales, the climate and democratic reform of the Senedd. Other very contentious
02:19 elements will surely be the economy and cost of living crisis as well as that all too controversial
02:24 20 mile an hour law change with both candidates already saying they aim to review the decision
02:29 if they take charge. We may not get the usual glitz and glamour
02:33 of TV debates that you see for Senedd or UK Parliament elections but there will be speeches,
02:38 campaign trails and exchanges of words for sure. Both candidates bring something unique
02:42 to the table and both will be pioneers if they were to be elected with Vaughan Gething
02:47 becoming the first mixed race First Minister and Jeremy Miles being the first gay First
02:51 Minister. Whoever takes the role has plenty to do, plenty
02:55 to change and of course plenty to fix. So the race is on and by March after voting closes
03:00 we'll have a name. J.P. Twotkins reporting from Wales.
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