Jeremy Miles has entered the race to become Welsh first minister and said that as a young gay man from a working-class family he could never have imagined putting himself forward as the leader of Labour and Wales.
Miles, the education minister, joins the current economy minister, Vaughan Gething, in the contest to replace Mark Drakeford, who announced his resignation last week.
He said: “If I think back to when I was growing up, wondering about my place in the world as a young gay man from a working-class family in Pontarddulais [south Wales], I would never have imagined that one day I would be putting myself forward to lead our great party and our nation.
“In recent days, party members from all parts of Wales, cabinet and Senedd colleagues, MPs, councillors, peers, trade unionists, and many others in our movement have expressed their support for me to lead our party. I am hugely grateful.
“I am determined to build on Mark’s legacy and his unquestionable commitment to public service. As we look forward to the next quarter-century in the journey of devolution, we must set our sights on an ambitious future for Wales, led by Welsh Labour.
“The Tories’ attacks on public services, austerity and their mismanagement of our economy, means things have been incredibly difficult for people across our country. We face many challenges ahead – but I am hopeful for the future.
“A UK Labour government led by Keir Starmer, working with our Welsh Labour government, can achieve so much more for Wales. Together, we will end the cycle of Tory crises that has worn down so many. We must do all we can to ensure a Labour win – we owe it to our country. A Welsh Labour government which I lead will always stand up for Wales.”
If Gething won the race, he would become the first black leader of a country in Europe. Miles’s supporters have been keen to portray him as a “grown-up” candidate who will be able to work well with all wings of the Welsh party and also forge close relationships with UK Labour and with opposition parties.
If he did become leader, Miles would be the first openly gay leader of Wales. He has previously spoken of how he struggled to find his place in the world as a gay young person, in an era when “someone like me” did not exist as far as the school curriculum was concerned.
In recent weeks he has had to defend the Welsh government’s record on education after poor Pisa scores put Wales at the bottom of the four nations results table.
Gething will have his own record as health minister during Covid to defend during the campaign. Members of the Covid 19 Bereaved Families for Justice Cymru have expressed concern over his supporters talking up his “excellent” work as health minister during Covid. They said: “It’s both insulting and upsetting for us.”
Miles, who represents Neath in south Wales, was born and brought up in Pontarddulais, near Swansea. A Welsh speaker, he was educated at Ysgol Gyfun Ystalyfera in the Swansea Valley and New College, Oxford where he studied law.
He has held senior legal and commercial posts in media sector businesses, including ITV and the US television network and film studio NBC Universal. After returning to live in Wales he set up his own consultancy working with international clients in the broadcast and digital sectors.
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