Welsh politics has never seen such a chaotic time period. Most first ministers are in the job for at least a few years, with only 4 previous Senedd leaders between 1999 and 2023, but in 2024, we’ll have moved onto our third in a matter of months, when Eluned Morgan is officially named first minister in a few weeks time.
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00:00Well, it happened a lot quicker than many of us thought, but the outcome was exactly
00:07what we expected.
00:08Eluned Morgan is set to become the next First Minister after being named as the leader of
00:13Welsh Labour.
00:14She's the first female Welsh Labour leader, and will become the first female First Minister
00:18when it's made official on August 6th.
00:22She will become the third Premier this year after a chaotic few months with Vaughan Gething
00:26at the helm, so Welsh Labour, and the Senate generally, will be hoping for more stability
00:30with Morgan.
00:31She was chosen as First Minister after no other candidates put themselves forward, but
00:36it was clear she had the strong support of her Labour peers nonetheless, so looked like
00:40the favourite to win even if there was opposition.
00:44She had previously run for First Minister before, back in 2018, but lost out to Mark
00:48Drakeford, so it had been a long time coming for Eluned Morgan, but many within her party
00:53would have said it was always going to happen eventually.
00:58She's been a veteran in the Welsh Government for a long time, working most recently as
01:01the Health Minister, as well as the Welsh Language Minister and Minister for Mental
01:05Health and Wellbeing in the past.
01:09Our soon-to-be FM is a member of the House of Lords, and holds the title Baroness Morgan
01:13of Ely, as well as previously working as a member of the European Parliament.
01:17At the time, way back 30 years ago in 1994, she was the youngest ever member of the European
01:23Parliament at just 27 years of age.
01:25Her experience is clear, being part of a range of political establishments and governments
01:29through the years, and that experience is something her party will massively value.
01:34Her time as Health Minister, though, has been far from perfect, and has overseen some of
01:38the worst waiting times in the history of the NHS in Wales, so will need to answer questions
01:43over her hands-on problem-solving.
01:44The Senate has by and large closed for the summer recess, but will be recalled to swear
01:49her in on the 6th of August.
01:51So with so many problems facing the people of Wales, and problems here in the Senedd,
01:55we'll be hoping she gets to work quickly.