Eluned Morgan MS: Who is the Health Minister tipped to be next FM of Wales?

Wales is facing a year of three First Ministers as the Welsh Labour Party gears up for its second leadership election of 2024.

Scandal-hit Vaughan Gething announced his resignation after just a handful of months in the role, reopening the contest for the most powerful political job in Wales.

While Gething’s opponent in the previous race, Jeremy Miles, was widely expected to be a frontrunner to succeed him, he has instead thrown his weight behind Eluned Morgan – who today confirmed her intention to stand.

Morgan, 57, who currently serves as the Welsh government’s Health Secretary, would be the first woman First Minister of Wales if she emerged victorious.

Born in Ely, Cardiff, she studied at a Welsh-language comprehensive school, Glantaf. Her cabinet colleague Mick Antoniw recently cited her being a Welsh speaker as a reason for backing her leadership bid.

READ MORE: Eluned Morgan enters race to succeed Vaughan Gething

She later studied European Studies at the University of Hull, before working in the media for S4C, Agenda TV and the BC.

A veteran politician in Welsh Labour, her electoral career started in 1994, when she was won a seat in the European Parliament at the age of just 27.

At the time, Morgan was only the fifth woman to have been elected to a full-time position in politics in the history of Wales, according to the Welsh Government.

READ MORE: Wales to have new First Minister by September as leadership race takes shape

She later entered the House of Lords in 2011, where she was given the title of Baroness Morgan of Ely – and was subsequently elected to the Senedd (then called the Welsh Assembly) in 2016.

Morgan has severed as a Welsh government minister under three different First Ministers – Carwyn Jones, Mark Drakeford and Vaughan Gething – with portfolios ranging from the Welsh language to health.

After a previous bid for the leadership in 2018, in which she finished third, she is now seen as a likely frontrunner to replace Gething.

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She has already amassed the support of enough MSs to make the leadership ballot. The eventual winner of the Welsh Labour leadership election is expected to be revealed in September.

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