Vaughan Gething set to become next first minister of Wales after winning Welsh Labour leadership race
Vaughan Gething is set to become Wales’s next first minister after winning the Labour leadership race.
Mr Gething, 50, will also become the first black man to hold the post, and the first black leader of any European country.
He is expected to be confirmed as the country’s first minister on Wednesday when a vote will be held in the Senedd.
He will succeed Mark Drakeford, who has held the position since 2018.
Mr Gething beat his only rival, the education minister Jeremy Miles, winning 51.7% of the vote.
Jeremy Miles was beaten after a three-month leadership race. Pic: PA
After the result was announced in a lecture hall at Cardiff University, Mr Gething said: “Today, we turn a page in the book of our nation’s history. A history we write together.
“Not just because I have the honour of becoming the first black leader in any European country – but because the generational dial has jumped too.
“Devolution is not something I have had to get used to or adapt to or apologise for. Devolution – Welsh solutions to Welsh problems – that’s in my blood. It’s what I’ve always known.”
UK Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer hailed Mr Gething’s election as “an historic moment that speaks to the progress and values of modern-day Wales”.
Labour have 30 of the Welsh parliament’s 60 seats and are currently in a cooperation agreement with Plaid Cymru, who lend support on certain government policies.
Mr Drakeford announced in December that he would step down in the new year.
Mr Gething paid tribute to Mr Drakeford as he addressed members of the Labour Party upon winning.
“What is often said about Mark is he is a details man,” said Mr Gething.
“But he was the right leader at the right time during the pandemic and it is true that we will be forever in his debt to his forensic approach to public policy.
“Not a lot is said about a heart that went into it to the deep and unwavering duty to defend Wales, as a community, as a people, as a family of families.”
Mark Drakeford speaking minutes before the announcement
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak congratulated Mr Gething.
Writing on X, he said: “I am committed to working together constructively with a relentless focus on growing the Welsh economy and levelling up communities.
“This is a chance for a new Welsh administration to focus on what matters to people in Wales.”
A growing demand for US dollar-tied crypto stablecoins could help push down the interest rate, says US Federal Reserve Governor Stephen Miran.
The Donald Trump-appointed Miran told the BCVC summit in New York on Friday that the dollar-pegged crypto tokens could be “putting downward pressure” on the neutral rate, or r-star, that doesn’t stimulate or impede the economy.
If the neutral rate drops, then the central bank would also react by dropping its interest rate, he said.
The total current market cap of all stablecoins sits at $310.7 million according to CoinGecko data, and Miran suggested that Fed research found the market could grow to up to $3 trillion in value in the next five years.
“My thesis is that stablecoins are already increasing demand for US Treasury bills and other dollar-denominated liquid assets by purchasers outside the United States and that this demand will continue growing,” Miran said.
“Stablecoins may become a multitrillion-dollar elephant in the room for central bankers.”
Organizations, including the International Monetary Fund, have warned that stablecoins pose a threat to traditional financial assets and services, as they could potentially compete for customers. US banking groups have also urged Congress to tighten oversight of stablecoins with yield, arguing they could attract would-be bank users.
Related: How TradFi banks are advancing new stablecoin models
Regulation to pave the way
During his speech, Miran praised the GENIUS Act for setting out clear guidelines and consumer protections, as he indicated that the regulatory framework will play a key role in spurring broader adoption of stablecoins.
“While I tend to view new regulations skeptically, I’m greatly encouraged by the GENIUS Act. This regulatory apparatus for stablecoins establishes a level of legitimacy and accountability congruent with holding traditional dollar assets,” he said, adding:
“For the purposes of monetary policy, the most important aspect of the GENIUS Act is that it requires U.S.-domiciled issuers to maintain reserves backed on at least a one-to-one basis in safe and liquid US dollar–denominated assets.”
Magazine: Bitcoin’s ‘speed bump’ to $56K? Ripple rejects IPO plans: Hodler’s Digest, Nov. 2 – 8
The crypto market could soon see some much-needed relief after the US Senate reached an agreement on a three-part budget deal to end the government shutdown, Politico reports.
Pending legislation to fund the US government has more than enough support to pass the 60-vote threshold, Politico reported on Sunday, citing two people familiar with the matter.
It was Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s 15th attempt to win Democratic support for a House-approved bill, putting the record 40-day government shutdown within reach of being lifted.
An official vote is still needed to finalize the agreement.
Ongoing uncertainty over when the US government would reopen has been a key factor holding back Bitcoin (BTC) and the broader crypto market from mounting a rebound.
Bitcoin initially rallied to a new high of $126,080 six days into the government shutdown on Oct. 6, but has since fallen over 17% to $104,370, CoinGecko data shows.
Bitcoin’s fall over the past month saw it drop by double-digit percentage points on Oct. 10 after US President Donald Trump’s announcement of 100% tariffs on China sent shockwaves throughout the markets.
Bitcoin rallied 266% after last government shutdown lifted
The last US government shutdown occurred between late December 2018 and late January the following year in Trump’s first term.
After it ended on Jan. 25, 2019, Bitcoin rose over 265% from $3,550 to $13,000 over the next five months.
Prediction markets back shutdown to end this week
Bettors on prediction market Polymarket are backing that the government shutdown will be lifted on Thursday, with the market showing a 54% chance it will happen between Tuesday and Friday.
Related: Robert Kiyosaki says he’s buying, targets $250K Bitcoin and $27K gold
Those odds were just 27% a day ago.
Odds on competitor platform Kalshi are similar, estimating the government shutdown will end on Friday, 44 days into the shutdown.
It comes as Trump announced on Sunday that most Americans will receive a $2,000 dividend from tariff revenue.
Approximately 85% of adults will be eligible, excluding high-income earners, he said.
Magazine: Bitcoin OG Kyle Chassé is one strike away from a YouTube permaban
Politics
Downfall of BBC leaders greeted with undisguised glee by many on the right of British politics
Amid serious concerns over the editorial mistakes made by the BBC, the downfall of its leaders has been greeted with undisguised glee by many on the right of British politics.
Former prime minister Liz Truss was quick off the mark to retweet gloating posts from Donald Trump and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt with clapping emojis.
Ms Truss argued not just for the abolition of the licence fee, but for the end of nationalised broadcasting altogether.
Her former cabinet colleague Suella Braverman has also called for the licence fee to be scrapped.
It’s an idea long advocated by Nadine Dorries during her time as culture secretary. The recent Reform convert is particularly pessimistic about the BBC’s future – telling me she believes its “core bias” has worsened in recent years.
“I’m afraid the resignation of Tim Davie will change nothing,” she said. “Under this Labour government overseeing the new appointment… it will probably get worse.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Why ‘Teflon Tim’ resigned from BBC
All three politicians were close allies of Boris Johnson, who has been instrumental this week in piling the pressure on the BBC.
He dramatically threatened in the Daily Mail to boycott the licence fee until Tim Davie explained what happened with the Trump Panorama documentary – or resigned.
The official Conservative Party line is slightly more restrained.
Shadow culture secretary Nigel Huddleston told Sky News “we want them to be successful” – but he and his boss Kemi Badenoch are calling for wide-ranging editorial reforms to end what they describe as “institutional bias”.
Their list calls for changes to BBC Arabic, its coverage of the US and Middle East, and “basic matters of biology”, by which they mean its stories on trans issues.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
‘Catastrophic failure’ at BBC
The irony of demanding editorial changes from a supposedly independent organisation dealing with allegations of bias has been lost in the furore.
Similarly, Nigel Farage is calling for the government to appoint a new director-general from the private sector who has “a record of coming in and turning companies and cultures around”.
As part of its editorial independence, the appointment of the BBC’s next editor-in-chief is meant to be entirely down to its own independent board – and out of the hands of ministers.
The government’s own response to the scandal has therefore been relatively muted. In a statement, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy thanked Mr Davie for his long service to public service broadcasting – and paid tribute to the BBC as “one of our most important national institutions”.
Tim Davie and Deborah Turness. Pics: PA
Before the news of the resignations broke, she had been expressing her “complete confidence” in how the BBC’s leadership were dealing with the “serious allegations” described in the leaked memo from Michael Prescott, a former external adviser to the corporation’s editorial standards committee.
The departure of Mr Davie and the CEO of BBC News Deborah Turness just hours later seemed to be something of a shock.
A more detailed government response is sure to come when parliament returns from recess tomorrow.
The Culture Media and Sport Committee of MPs – which has played an active role in the scandal by writing to the BBC chairman and demanding answers – is due to receive its response today, which is expected to include an apology for the Panorama edits.
Its chair Dame Caroline Dinenage described Mr Davie’s resignation as “regrettable” but said that “restoring trust in the corporation must come first”.
Read more:
Analysis: ‘Teflon Tim’ has come unstuck
The past controversies faced by Davie
Read their resignation letters in full
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Ex-Panorama staffer: ‘Worst crime imaginable’
So far, the only British political leader prepared to mount an outspoken defence of the BBC is Sir Ed Davey.
The Liberal Democrat argues that seeing the White House take credit for Mr Davie’s downfall – and attacking the BBC – “should worry us all”.
He’s called on the PM and all British political leaders to stand united in “telling Trump to keep his hands off it”.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
What did the BBC do to anger Trump?
Given the diplomatic contortions Sir Keir Starmer has gone through to develop close relations with the current president, this seems entirely unlikely.
But for a prime minister already juggling an overflowing in-tray of problems, controversy over the national broadcaster as the government prepares to enter negotiations about renewing its charter for the next decade is another political tripwire in waiting.
-
Sports2 years agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports3 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Sports3 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment1 year agoHere are the best electric bikes you can buy at every price level in October 2024