VAUGHAN GETHING faced calls to resign today after the surprise sacking of his minister for social partnership for allegedly leaking text messages to the media.

Plaid Cymru said the First Minister for Wales should consider his position after he announced that he had “no alternative” but to fire Hannah Blythyn after reviewing a “recent disclosure of communication.”

She strongly denied that she has “ever leaked anything” and the announcement came on the same day it emerged Mr Gething will be giving £31,000 to Labour amid controversy over donations to his leadership campaign.

The donation to the party follows him spending most of the £250,000 donations, including £200,000 from a company owned by a man previously convicted of environmental offences.

Earlier this month, reports also emerged that Mr Gething had told other ministers in August 2020 that he was deleting messages from a group chat because they could be obtained through Freedom of Information requests.

The then-health minister’s comments in a leaked message have raised questions over whether he had perjured himself at the Covid Inquiry.

He denies the claims and says that he never deleted any texts from his own phone.

Ms Blythyn, who was elected as the MS for the north-east Wales seat of Delyn in 2016, said on X: “I am deeply shocked and saddened by what has happened today. I am clear and have been clear that I did not, nor have I ever leaked anything. Integrity is all in politics and I retain mine.”

In February, she announced the Welsh government was taking over the South Wales Fire and Rescue Service due to a culture of sexual harassment and misogyny within its ranks.