2024 Welsh government crisis

2024 Welsh government crisis
	Vaughan Gething with Keir Starmer, two weeks before Gething's resignation
Date	17 May – 6 August 2024
Duration	81 days
Location	Wales
Cause	Campaign donation of £200,000 from convicted businessman David John Neal; Deletion of COVID-19 messages controversy; Dismissal of Hannah Blythyn as minister; Plaid Cymru withdrawal from co-operation agreement; Loss of non-binding vote of no confidence;
Motive	Declare no confidence in Vaughan Gething as First Minister; Pressure for resignation over ethical concerns; Restore confidence in Welsh Government;
Participants	Vaughan Gething (First Minister of Wales); Welsh Labour cabinet ministers; Plaid Cymru leadership; Welsh Conservatives; Senedd members;
Outcome	Resignation of Vaughan Gething as First Minister (16 July 2024); July 2024 Welsh Labour leadership election; Appointment of Eluned Morgan as First Minister (6 August 2024); New Welsh Government formation;
	Gething became the shortest-serving First Minister in Welsh devolution history

The 2024 Welsh government crisis was a political crisis that led to the resignation of Vaughan Gething as First Minister of Wales and leader of Welsh Labour on 16 July 2024, after 118 days in office. The crisis arose from multiple controversies surrounding Gething's leadership, culminating in the coordinated resignation of four senior cabinet ministers who declared they had lost confidence in his ability to govern.

The crisis originated during Gething's February–March 2024 Welsh Labour leadership election campaign when he received a £200,000 donation from David John Neal, a businessman twice convicted of environmental offences. Subsequent controversies included allegations that Gething had misled the COVID-19 inquiry about deleting text messages, his dismissal of minister Hannah Blythyn over leaked messages without a formal inquiry, and concerns about potential conflicts of interest relating to government loans to Neal's companies.

These scandals led to the breakdown of the co-operation agreement between Welsh Labour and Plaid Cymru in May 2024, leaving Gething leading a minority government. On 5 June 2024, Gething lost a non-binding vote of no confidence in the Senedd by 29 votes to 27, becoming only the second First Minister in Welsh devolution history to face such a vote. Despite initially refusing to resign and describing the motion as a "gimmick", his position became untenable on 16 July when four senior ministers—Jeremy Miles, Mick Antoniw, Julie James, and Lesley Griffiths—resigned within hours of each other.

Gething's resignation made him the shortest-serving First Minister in the 25-year history of Welsh devolution. He was succeeded by Eluned Morgan, who was elected unopposed as Welsh Labour leader and appointed First Minister on 6 August 2024. The crisis occurred just two weeks after Keir Starmer's Labour Party won the 2024 United Kingdom general election, highlighting tensions within the broader Labour movement during a period of political transition.