The first minister of Wales () is the leader of the

Welsh Government The Welsh Government ( ) is the Executive (government), executive arm of the Welsh devolution, devolved government of Wales. The government consists of Cabinet secretary, cabinet secretaries and Minister of State, ministers. It is led by the F ...

and keeper of the

Welsh Seal The Welsh Seal () is a seal used by the First Minister of Wales to seal letters patent signed by the monarch giving royal assent to bills passed by the Senedd (Welsh Parliament; ). The sealed bill is thereby enacted, becoming an Act of Sened ...

. The first minister chairs the Welsh Cabinet and is primarily responsible for the formulation, development and presentation of Welsh Government policy. Additional functions of the first minister include promoting and representing Wales in an official capacity, at home and abroad, and responsibility for constitutional affairs, as they relate to devolution and the Welsh Government. The first minister is a

Member of the Senedd A member of the Senedd (MS; plural: ''MSs''; ; , plural: ) is a representative elected to the Senedd (Welsh Parliament; ). There are sixty members, with forty members chosen to represent individual Senedd constituency, Senedd constituencies, a ...

, and is nominated by the

Senedd The Senedd ( ; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and () in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, Its role is to scrutinise the Welsh Government and legislate on devolve ...

(Welsh Parliament; ), before being officially appointed by the

Monarch A monarch () is a head of stateWebster's II New College Dictionary. "Monarch". Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest ...

. Members of the Welsh Cabinet and junior ministers of the Welsh Government, as well as law officers, are appointed by the first minister. As head of the Welsh Government, the first minister is directly accountable to the Senedd for their actions and the actions of the Welsh Government. The main office of the first minister is in

Tŷ Hywel is a building in Cardiff, Wales, used by the Senedd (Welsh Parliament; ; formerly the National Assembly for Wales). It is named after the medieval king (''Howell the Good''), King of Deheubarth in South West Wales. The building was previousl ...

, which is adjacent to the

Senedd building The Senedd building (), in Cardiff, houses the debating chamber and three committee rooms of the Senedd (Welsh Parliament; ; formerly the National Assembly for Wales). The Senedd building was opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 1 March 2006, Saint ...

Cardiff Bay Cardiff Bay (; colloquially "The Bay") is an area and freshwater lake in Cardiff, Wales. The site of a former tidal bay and estuary, it is the river mouth of the River Taff and River Ely, Ely. The body of water was converted into a lake as part ...

. An additional office is also kept at the Crown Buildings,

Cathays Park Cathays Park () or Cardiff Civic Centre is a civic centre area in the Cardiff City Centre, city centre of Cardiff, the capital city of Wales, consisting of a number of early 20th century buildings and a central park area, Alexandra Gardens. It ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

which is the headquarters of the

. The incumbent first minister of Wales is

Eluned Morgan, Baroness Morgan of Ely Mair Eluned Morgan, Baroness Morgan of Ely, (born 16 February 1967), is a Welsh politician who has served as First Minister of Wales and Leader of Welsh Labour since 2024. Morgan is the first woman, and first member of the House of Lords to ho ...

, who has served since August 2024. The Senedd nominated her as First Minister on 6 August 2024, with

Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

making the appointment on the same day.

Terminology

When initially established under the

Government of Wales Act 1998 A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

, Section 53(1), the post was known as ''Assembly First Secretary'' (), as Wales was given a less powerful assembly and executive than either

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. The choice of title was also attributed to the fact that the Welsh term for ''First Minister'', ''Prif Weinidog'', may also be translated as ''Prime Minister'', so a different title was chosen to avoid confusion with the

prime minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister Advice (constitutional law), advises the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, sovereign on the exercise of much of the Royal prerogative ...

. The change of title occurred after the Liberal Democrats formed a

coalition government A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...

with Labour in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

in October 2000. The

Government of Wales Act 2006 The Government of Wales Act 2006 (c. 32) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed the then-National Assembly for Wales (now the Senedd) and allows further powers to be granted to it more easily. The Act creates a system ...

allowed for the post to be officially known as "''First Minister''" and also made the first minister '' Keeper of the Welsh Seal''.

Nomination and appointment

Candidates for the position of first minister are nominated by the members of the

. The members elect the first minister by majority vote. If no one achieves a majority of the votes cast in the first ballot, there are further ballots until a majority cast their vote for one candidate. This process does not require an

absolute majority A majority is more than half of a total; however, the term is commonly used with other meanings, as explained in the " Related terms" section below. It is a subset of a set consisting of more than half of the set's elements. For example, if a gr ...

of the Senedd (currently 31 out of 60 members). Once this process is complete, the presiding officer sends a formal letter to the

, who must then appoint that nominee to the position of First Minister. In December 2023, Mark Drakeford announced his intention to stand down, and remained in the position until he was replaced by

Vaughan Gething Humphrey Vaughan ap David Gething (born 15 March 1974) is a Welsh Labour Co-op politician who served as First Minister of Wales from March to August 2024, and served as leader of Welsh Labour from March to July 2024, making him the first blac ...

on 20 March 2024, as a result of the Welsh Labour leadership election. On 16 July 2024, Gething announced his intention to resign as first minister. On 24 July 2024,

Eluned Morgan Mair Eluned Morgan, Baroness Morgan of Ely, (born 16 February 1967), is a Welsh politician who has served as First Minister of Wales and Leader of Welsh Labour since 2024. Morgan is the first woman, and first member of the House of Lords to ho ...

was elected as Gething’s successor as Welsh Labour leader. She succeeded him as First Minister, after the Senedd formally nominated her as first minister on 6 August 2024, with King

approving the nomination on the same day. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cq5dd7y9vqxo

List of contested elections

Role

Under the arrangements in the

, executive functions are conferred on the Senedd and then separately delegated to the first minister and to other Cabinet Ministers and staff as appropriate. Until the Government of Wales Act 2006, these were delegated powers of the

UK government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

. Since that Act came into force in May 2007, however, the first minister has been appointed by the

monarch A monarch () is a head of stateWebster's II New College Dictionary. "Monarch". Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest ...

and represents

the Crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...

in Wales. Whilst this makes little practical difference, it was a huge symbolic shift, as for the first time the head of government in Wales is appointed by the Crown on the advice of the elected representatives of the Welsh people. The first minister appoints the Welsh Ministers, Deputy Welsh Ministers and the

Counsel General for Wales The Counsel General for Wales () is the Welsh Government's Law Officer (akin to the role of Attorney general in other jurisdictions using the Common law), which means the government's chief legal adviser and representative in the courts. In a ...

(collectively known as the

), with the approval of the British sovereign. Since the separation between the legislative and the executive on the enactment of the

(upon appointment of the first minister, 25 May 2007), the Welsh ministers exercise functions in their own right. Any further transfers of executive functions from the UK Government will be made directly to the Welsh Ministers (with their consent) by an

Order in Council An Order in Council is a type of legislation in many countries, especially the Commonwealth realms. In the United Kingdom, this legislation is formally made in the name of the monarch by and with the advice and consent of the Privy Council ('' ...

approved by Parliament. The first minister is accountable and responsible for: * Exercise of functions by the cabinet of the Welsh Government * Policy development and coordination of policy * The relationships with the rest of the United Kingdom, Europe and Wales Abroad * Staffing/civil service.

References

Sources

*Dates are from various BBC News Online articles from 1999 to 2003.

External links

Roles and Responsibilities
–
Welsh Government: Cabinet and ministers
{{UK heads of governments Politics of Wales Government of Wales First ministers of Wales Welsh Government 1997 establishments in the United Kingdom Ministerial posts of the Welsh Government