We’re now one month away from finding out who our new first minster is going to be. Jeremy Miles and Vaughn Gething are the names in the hat and voting has officially opened. Labour Party members and unions will decide the next leader, so we take a look at the candidates, and see what we can expect from the next few weeks.
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00:00 being named. Mark Drakeford entirely changed the stature of the role of First Minister,
00:07 mainly through the pandemic, and now the leadership race is set to be the biggest ever.
00:13 Two men are looking to take the role, Jeremy Miles and Vaughan Gething. Whoever wins between
00:16 these men will take charge of Welsh Labour, the Senedd and Welsh politics as a whole.
00:23 Both candidates have been on the trail for months, trying to win over voters and stake
00:26 their claims as the premier of politics here in Wales. The two men have different outlooks
00:30 and have had different journeys through their time in politics and their careers.
00:37 Vaughan Gething has been a high profile in Welsh politics for a few years. He was the
00:40 Health Minister during Covid, giving him unprecedented exposure compared to health ministers before
00:45 him. Now, in his role as the Economy Minister, he's played a big role in the ongoing saga
00:49 of Tata Steel and Port Talbot, vying to save jobs for the town as Steelwork looks to scale
00:54 down operations, putting thousands of jobs at risk.
00:59 Gething so far has spoken about the pressures he's faced during his time in politics and
01:03 says that he's been tested in the fiercest heat, preparing him to be First Minister.
01:07 One of his main selling points, so to speak, is his experience.
01:12 He has though caused some controversy in the past, allegedly breaking his own lockdown
01:16 rules and having a standoffish nature with reporters at times in his tenure.
01:21 Jeremy Miles has held a number of ministerial posts and is currently the Education and Welsh
01:25 Language Minister, one of the longest standing ministers in the Welsh Government.
01:31 He's held the post since 2018 and last year he implemented a totally new curriculum across
01:35 Wales and as a native Welsh speaker, he's been a leaded figure in growing the Welsh
01:39 language.
01:40 Although he hasn't quite had the exposure of Gething, he comes with back to experience
01:45 too and served as the Welsh equivalent of the Brexit Minister. He says he wants to make
01:49 Welsh Labour the natural political home for people across the country if he were to become
01:53 the First Minister.
01:56 Both candidates have their strengths. Vaughan Gething has been said to work well with partners
01:59 and stakeholders in decision making across politics in Wales, whereas Jeremy Miles seems
02:04 to have the public facing ability.
02:07 So far based on Senedd members voting, Miles is ahead with 16 to Gething's 9, but that's
02:12 a tiny number compared to the eligible voters like party members and unions.
02:16 A number of unions have backed Gething, so whoever is going to be the First Minister
02:20 is anyone's guess, but both will be leading figures regardless of the outcome. Vaughan
02:24 Gething will be the first mixed race First Minister, with Jeremy Miles being the first
02:28 openly gay First Minister, if they were elected.
02:33 Over the next month or so when voters will be handing in their decisions, we may get
02:37 an inkling of who might be leading the race, but experts so far have said it's too close
02:41 to call and may remain the case until the name is announced on March 16th.
02:46 Labour have been in power in Wales for as long as anyone can remember, so both candidates
02:50 will be looking to build on what Welsh Labour have created. Whether we see a first mixed
02:54 race candidate or first openly gay candidate, in a month's time we'll find out.
02:58 James P. Spodkins, reporting from Wales.
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