VAUGHAN GETHING resigned as first minister of Wales today after four of his senior cabinet secretaries quit and demanded he step down.

The First Minister had been in post just four months, making him the shortest-serving leader in Wales, with the second-shortest term in office in Britain since Conservative prime minister Liz Truss was forced from office.

The co-ordinated resignations of senior cabinet colleagues Mick Antoniw, Lesley Griffiths, Julie James and Jeremy Miles this morning threw Mr Gething’s government into turmoil and forced his resignation.

Their move against Mr Gething was anticipated after his defeated leadership rival Mr Miles declined four times in an interview with ITV Wales on Monday to offer the First Minister his support.

Recent polling put Mr Gething’s approval ratings at just 12 per cent, below former PM Rishi Sunak’s.

Welsh Labour has also slumped in the polls with support of 27 per cent, just four points above Plaid Cymru and a surging Reform party, polling 18 per cent in Wales.

Mr Gething’s leadership has been under a cloud after a campaign donation of £200,000 to his leadership bid from a company in his constituency of Penarth and Cardiff that had been convicted of environmental offences.

The First Minister has consistently claimed he had broken no rules in accepting the donation, which was four times larger than leadership rival Mr Miles’s total campaign donations.

Mr Gething was defiant to the end and his resignation statement said: “A growing assertion that some kind of wrongdoing has taken place has been pernicious, politically motivated and patently untrue.

“In eleven years as a minister, I have never made a decision for personal gain. I have never misused or abused my ministerial responsibilities.

“My integrity matters. I have not compromised it. I regret that the burden of proof is no longer an important commodity in the language of our politics. I do hope that can change.”

The political calendar dictated that Mr Gething had to face Senedd members in a difficult and prickly First Minister’s Questions (FMQs).

Mr Gething made a personal resignation statement before FMQs started and told the Senedd: “I have always pursued my political career to serve Wales, and being able to show under-represented communities that there is a place for them, for us, is an honour and a privilege that will never diminish.

“Before becoming a member of the Senedd, I was a trade union shop steward. I was an employment lawyer and I fought employment cases for people who had been mistreated at work. 

“I wanted to give power to those without a voice, to help to make our country a better place for all of us.”

In a sign of the stress that has faced Mr Gething over the last few months, the opposition leaders slammed his decision-making and asked him to reflect on his alleged wrongdoing.

Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth called for an end to the Welsh Labour chaos and demanded an immediate Senedd election.

“Very seldom does the head of a government in a democracy ignore the will of the legislature despite losing a vote of confidence,” Mr ap Iorwerth said.

The Plaid leader scorned the morning’s resignation of four ministers and said: “All four voted to declare their confidence in him recently.

“The Labour Party as a whole has been tainted by this and Wales deserves better than a revolving door of Labour first ministers. 

“The chaos must end and an election must be called. Will he allow Wales to have its voice heard?”

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer thanked Mr Gething for his service.

He said: “Vaughan should take enormous pride in being the first black leader of any country in Europe.

“That achievement will have broadened the ambitions and raised the gaze of a generation of young people in Wales and beyond.

“I know what a difficult decision this has been for him — but I also know that he has made it because he feels it is the best decision now for Wales.”

TUC Cymru also paid a fulsome tribute to its former president, saying: “As a union movement, we were tremendously proud that Vaughan Gething was the youngest-ever president of TUC Cymru and the first black president — had become first minister of Wales.

"It was a symbolic step for trade unionists, as well as a huge step for black political leadership in the UK and Europe more widely.”

Mr Gething said he will remain post until the Senedd chooses a successor, adding that the executive of Welsh Labour would determine the rules and timetable of the contest.

A Welsh government spokesman said the four ministerial vacancies should be filled tomorrow.