Vaughan Gething, son of a Welsh father and Zambian mother, said he is honored to be "the first black leader in any European country."

Vaughan Gething won the Welsh Labour Party leadership contest on Saturday, and is set to become the first Black leader of Wales’ semi-autonomous government.

Gething, who is currently Welsh economy minister, narrowly beat Education Minister Jeremy Miles in a race to replace First Minister Mark Drakeford. Drakeford announced late last year he would step down once a replacement was chosen.

Gething, 50, won 51.7% of the votes cast by members of the party and affiliated trade unions, and Miles 48.3%.

Once he is confirmed next week by the Welsh parliament, the Senedd, where Labour is the largest party, Gething will become the fifth first minister since Wales’ national legislature was established in 1999.

  • @Scarecrow59@lemmy.oneEnglish
    5•8 months ago

    This is something I dont understand, can someone explain to me: Is Rishi Sunnak not black? Do my eyes deceive me. Is he not a black leader of a european country too? Excuse my apparent ignorance.

    • @scrappydoo@lemmy.worldEnglish
      21•8 months ago

      Er, no. Rishi Sunak is of Indian heritage, and therefore brown. Likewise, Humza Yousaf, the First Minister of Scotland, is of Pakistani heritage. Black would be African heritage.

    • @Noel_Skum@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      2•8 months ago

      Here’s the thing, Vaughn has a white Welsh father and a black Zambian mother so it’s a bit dishonest to call him black. Rishi has two brown Indian parents. But yes, as a result, they probably do have a similar-ish skin colour.

      • Scroll ResponsiblyEnglish
        6•8 months ago

        Maybe this is something lost in translation but given that you appear to be British, did brits think of Barack Obama as being a bit dishonest for being referred to as the first black US president given that he had a white American mother and a black Kenyan father (as you put it)?

        • @Noel_Skum@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          4•8 months ago

          Dishonest, no. The vast majority of British people would have happily classed him as black - the same with Vaughn. Whether through racism or ignorance I’m not sure. In South Africa the term coloured/colored is used with zero negative connotations but in the UK “coloured” (and I assume the US too) is viewed very negatively as that is how the older generation categorised anybody who wasn’t white… whether you were Bangladeshi, Nigerian, Chinese etc it didn’t really matter.