Wales will have a new first minister by mid-September, Welsh Labour have announced. 

The party has set out a timetable for replacing Vaughan Gething after he stepped down on Tuesday.

He announced he was quitting after four members of his government resigned in protest over his leadership.

Nominations for candidates open on Saturday evening and the party’s politicians in the Senedd have until midday on Wednesday to decide who they are backing for the top job.

The list of prospective candidates will be announced that afternoon and confirmed on 19 August.

Postal votes will be sent out from 22 August and voting closes on 13 September.

A new Welsh Labour leader will be announced on 14 September.

When Mr Gething resigned, he said he would stay on until his replacement was appointed, and he will face his final First Minister’s Questions on 17 September.

The election of the new first minister will take place on 18 September.

Read more:
Who could succeed Vaughan Gething as first minister of Wales?
How historic victory turned into short and turbulent stint

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No Labour Member of the Senedd (MS) has officially said they will stand in the leadership contest.

Jeremy Miles, who was one of four government ministers to quit on Tuesday, is among those expected to stand.

He missed out to Mr Gething in the leadership contest earlier this year.

Other names in the mix include Climate Change Secretary Huw Irranca-Davies, Health Secretary Eluned Morgan and Transport Secretary Ken Skates.

The collapse of Mr Gething’s leadership came after Labour cabinet ministers Mick Antoniw, Julie James, Lesley Griffiths and Jeremy Miles all quit their government positions, telling the first minister they could not get on with their jobs “without you standing down”.

Mr Gething made history in March when he became the first black leader of any European country, succeeding Mark Drakeford as the first minster of Wales.

However, questions over a £200,000 donation to his Labour leadership campaign dogged him from the moment he took office, while a row over a leaked phone message which led to him sacking one of his ministers and Plaid Cymru’s withdrawal of support for his government added to the sense of chaos.

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