- Author, Shelley Phelps
- Role, BBC Wales Westminster correspondent
The public have given their views after First Minister Vaughan Gething’s no-confidence vote following a donations row.
The Welsh Conservatives said Mr Gething had “lost the confidence of the people of Wales”, while Welsh Labour dubbed the motion “a political stunt”.
One Labour candidate, who did not wish to be named, said they wanted to “distance” themselves from Mr Gething.
“We don’t want him out on the doorstep with us,” they said, adding that the issue was coming up in doorstep conversations.
Another candidate also said the first minister’s troubles were coming up on doorsteps but “not impacting people’s vote”.
In Grange Gardens – Mr Gething’s Cardiff South and Penarth Senedd constituency – voters were keenly aware of the controversy, although few indicated it would sway their vote on 4 July.
“I’ve taken into account the donation, it’s a bit of a scandal really,” said Ben Sullivan, 24, who is leaning towards voting Labour.
“But it won’t affect how I’m voting in Westminster because it’s time to get the Conservatives out,” he added.
“Stuff that happens in Wales won’t affect how I vote for the UK overall.”
Hera Siddiq, 28, said she believes the row is something that could “possibly” affect how she votes.
However, she added that she has “heard really good things” about Mr Gething and knows “he’s done a lot for the community”.
More broadly she explained that she had “lost faith” in the main political parties and is thinking of vote for the Green Party or independents.
Sarah Johnston said that, while she thinks the donation row is “not a good look”, she’ll still be voting Labour in the general election.
“I don’t like it, I don’t think it’s good at all. But it’s [the general election] a two horse race and I’d rather Labour than Tory,” she said.
Plaid Cymru voter Natalie Jones did not know if the row would affect how people vote in the general election.
“You do have lots of Labour strongholds in Wales,” she said.
“People might just do what they’ve always done.”
There are signs Mr Gething’s donations row could be impacting support for Labour at Senedd level, but not at Westminster, claims one Welsh political expert.
“We’re seeing one of the biggest gaps we’ve ever seen between Westminster vote intention for Labour and Senedd vote intention for Labour,” said Dr Jac Larner, a lecturer in political science at Cardiff University.
“At the moment in the polls around 45% – just less than half – of all voters say they’ll vote Labour in a Westminster election but that goes down to about 30% in Senedd elections.
“You don’t want to read too much into that of course, but it does suggest that Labour at Welsh elections, at devolved elections, are at the moment considerably less popular than they are when it comes to Westminster elections.”
He added: “Keir Starmer is quite a bit more popular in Wales than Vaughan Gething and this is actually a reversal from what we saw under Mark Drakeford, who was consistently more popular than the UK leader.”
Welsh Labour said the motion was a Tory political stunt “aided and abetted” by Plaid Cymru.
A spokesman said: “Vaughan is focused on delivering for our NHS and the economy and helping to return the UK Labour government Wales is crying out for.”
The candidates in Cardiff South and Penarth are:
Conservatives – no candidate announced at time of writing
Liberal Democrats – Alex Wilson
Plaid Cymru – Sharifah Rahman
Green Party – Anthony Slaughter
William Turner is a seasoned U.K. correspondent with a deep understanding of domestic affairs. With a passion for British politics and culture, he provides insightful analysis and comprehensive coverage of events within the United Kingdom.
