There is a new black head of state in Europe. Wales, one of four countries that make up the United Kingdom, was recently selected Vaughan Gething as First Minister, the highest position in the Welsh Parliament. The election is a first for Wales and the United Kingdom and is considered historic for the whole of Europe.
Gething, whose father is from Wales and whose mother is from Zambia, recently defeated Welsh Education Minister and Labor colleague Jeremy Miles in a narrow party vote to take on the role of Welsh First Minister, the highest position in the Senedd, the Welsh parliament. The promotion became official at the end of March after First Minister Mark Drakeford resigned and Gething was given the approval of King Charles III. took his place.
“Today we turn a page in the book of our nation’s history. A story we write together,” Gething said to his party colleagues in March after winning the election as party leader. “Not only because I have the honor of becoming the first black leader in a European country, but also because the generational shift has changed.”
Gething is that Son a white Welsh father and a black Zambian mother. He was born in Zambia, but his family moved to Britain when he was two and grew up in Wales and England. In 2011 he became a member of the Senedd. He was Health Secretary for Wales during the COVID-19 pandemic and is now Business Secretary. Wales, England, Scotland and Northern Ireland make up the United Kingdom. Despite its distinctive culture and language, Wales has been politically dominated by England for centuries. In 1999, Wales was granted semi-autonomous status within the United Kingdom with the creation of its legislature. Gething will be only the fifth person to serve as First Minister of Wales.
As Gething and others have noted, his appointment likely makes him the first black person to lead a European country. While some have speculated that England Queen Charlotte – the wife of King George III. and mother of King George IV – had African ancestry, such speculations have never been proven. Gething’s appointment reflects growth Diversity in the United Kingdom and its government. Three of the four countries that make up the United Kingdom are now led by non-white politicians, and the fourth, Northern Ireland, is currently led by two women in equal roles.
Gething’s appointment therefore represents an important step for Wales, the UK and Europe as a whole, while building on growing diversity within the continent’s leadership.
“I believe that today’s and future Wales will belong to all those decent people who recognize that our parliament and our government should look like our country,” Gething said in a recent interview speecheven if his appointment brings this belief a little closer to reality.