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Louise Thomas
Editor
The first minister of Wales Vaughan Gething is facing mounting pressure to resign after four of his ministers dramatically quit his government.
In a parting shot, the group told him they could not do their jobs “without you standing down”.
It is the latest crisis to hit his leadership in its short tenure.
He lost a non-binding no confidence motion only a few weeks ago and was seen in tears in the Senedd chamber before the vote.
He has come under fire since he sacked former minister Hannah Blythyn after a government leak.
Last week, in a highly unusual move the publication which received the leak went public to state that she was not its source.
But it is not the only controversy that has engulfed the Welsh Labour leader, including a series of rows concerning donations he took while running to be lead his party.
The four ministers, Mick Antoniw, Julie James, Lesley Griffiths and Jeremy Miles resigned on Tuesday morning and posted separate letters on social media in which they called for Mr Gething to go.
In his letter quitting as Welsh economy secretary, Mr Miles told Mr Gething: “We cannot continue like this.”
Mr Miles, who ran against Mr Gething for the Welsh Labour leadership, added: “The events of the last few months including your loss of the confidence vote in the Senedd, have been incredibly painful.
“It’s essential that we begin to repair the damage immediately, and I have reached the conclusion very regrettably that this cannot happen under your leadership.
“I can’t see any way forward for us which allows us to get on with job we are elected to do, without you standing down.”
In June Mr Gething vowed to carry on in the job despite losing the vote of no confidence, as he branded the motion “a transparent gimmick”.
He lost the vote by 29 votes to 27, but the motion, tabled by the Welsh Conservatives, was non-binding, meaning he was not ousted from his role.
However, the result was highly embarrassing for him personally and for Labour.
Labour had enough votes to win, but two members of the party were reported to be unwell.
As well as the series of controversies involving Mr Gething, the vote followed the collapse of his electoral deal with Plaid Cymru.
Mr Gething, who has been the Welsh Labour leader only since March, was seen in tears before the vote.
Afterwards, he said: “I’m here, proud to be the first minister of Wales, to serve and lead my country. That’s what I’ve done today, it’s what I’ll carry on doing.”
The sacking of his minister followed a report on the Nation Cymru news website that featured a message to a ministerial group chat in August 2020, during the Covid crisis, from Mr Gething, stating that he was deleting the messages in the group.
Mr Gething has always insisted that all rules were followed when he took the donation and denied the leaked message contradicted the evidence he had given to the official Covid inquiry.
