Mark Drakeford has announced he is stepping down as the Welsh first minister with immediate effect and a leadership contest will take place..
Drakeford had long said he would leave the post before the end of the current Senedd term in 2026 and in the summer made it clear he would completely leave the Welsh parliament at the next election.
He was first elected as the Senedd member for Cardiff West in 2011 and became first minister after Carwyn Jones left the job eight years later.
Drakeford’s role leading Wales’s response to the Covid crisis made him the most prominent Welsh leader since Rhodri Morgan and one of the UK’s most recognisable politicians.
When he became leader almost exactly five years ago, he promised to follow “radical socialist traditions” in the style of Aneurin Bevan and Michael Foot and was vocal in his support for Jeremy Corbyn.
He will be remembered for his cautious, avuncular style during the pandemic and also for a more recent and controversial policy: the introduction of 20mph speed limits in most built-up areas throughout Wales.
The announcement comes at a sensitive time for the Labour administration, which is having to make wide-ranging budget cuts across almost all departments to help prop up the country’s struggling health service and rail system.
Among the favourites to replace him will be Vaughan Gething, the economy minister, and Jeremy Miles, the education minister.
Before entering politics, Drakeford worked as a probation officer, youth justice worker and Barnardos project leader in Cardiff. He has also taught at Cardiff and Swansea universities.
