Vaughan Gething


Vaughan Gething is a Welsh Labour and Co-operative politician serving as Minister for Health and Social Services since 2016, and has served as Member of the Senedd for Cardiff South and Penarth since 2011.

Early life

Gething was born in Zambia in 1974, where his father, a white Welsh vet from Ogmore-by-Sea, met his mother who is black Zambian. Gething describes his father as a "a white Welsh economic migrant". When he was two he moved to Monmouthsire, Wales with his family which includes three brothers and a sister. His father eventually found work in Dorset, England where Gething was bought up.
He studied at Beaminster Comprehensive and Sixth Form followed by Aberystwyth University as a Law graduate in 1999, and then going onto the Cardiff Law School, University of Wales. Gething became president of Aberystwyth University Guild of Students and the first black president of the National Union of Students Wales.

Professional career

Having completed his training as a solicitor in Cardiff in 2001, with the trade union solicitors Thompsons, Gething chose to specialise in employment law. He became a partner in Thompsons in 2007.
In 2008, at the age of 34, Gething became the youngest President of Wales TUC, also becoming the first black person in the role.

Political career

Gething joined the Labour Party when he was 17, to campaign in the 1992 UK general election. He was a councillor from 2004 to 2008, representing Butetown electoral ward on Cardiff Council, having been elected with a majority of two votes. Gething was selected as the Welsh Labour candidate for the Cardiff South and Penarth constituency in the Senedd. Lorraine Barrett, who had represented Cardiff South and Penarth since the Senedd's creation in 1999, had announced her intention to stand down at the 2011 election. At the Senedd election on 5 May 2011, Gething increased the Labour vote with a swing of 12.5%. At 13,814, his share of the vote was over 50%, giving him a majority of 6,259 over the Welsh Conservative Party candidate, Ben Gray, placed second. At the following 2016 Welsh Assembly election, Gething once again increased his majority in terms of vote share.
Following the 2016 election, Gething was promoted to Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Sport. In a Cabinet re-shuffle in November 2017, Gething became Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Services.
Gething, alongside Eluned Morgan and Mark Drakeford, was one of the three contenders in the 2018 election for the leadership of Welsh Labour, but was defeated by Finance Secretary Mark Drakeford.

Zoom incident

On 22 April 2020, Gething was caught swearing about fellow Labour MS Jenny Rathbone in a virtual session of the Senedd. Gething failed to mute his microphone as he told an unknown person "What the fuck is the matter with her?" during the Zoom meeting. Rathbone had been asking the Minister questions about the Welsh Government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Following the incident, both the Welsh Conservative leader, Paul Davies and Plaid Cymru leader, Adam Price called on Mark Drakeford to dismiss Gething as Minister for Health. BBC Wales reported that Labour MSs were also "very angry" over Gething's actions.

Personal life

Gething and his wife Michelle live in Penarth, where he has lived since 2011. He is a member of the trade unions GMB, UNISON and Unite.

Offices held