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Vaughan Gething after the election as Prime Minister of Wales
Photo: Ben Birchall / dpa
Wales will have a black head of government for the first time.
After his election victory, Vaughan Gething said he had "the honor of becoming the first black leader of a European country."
The 50-year-old is expected to be sworn in as Welsh Prime Minister next Wednesday.
The previous incumbent, Mark Drakeford, announced his resignation in December.
»Today we open a new chapter in our nation's history.
A history that we write together," said Gething after his election victory to members of his Labor Party in the Welsh capital Cardiff.
British Labor leader Keir Starmer also attached great historical significance to Gething's upcoming inauguration: "His appointment as First Minister of Wales, the first black leader in the United Kingdom, will be a historic moment that testifies to the progress and values of modern Wales .”
Vaughan Gething was born in Zambia, South Africa, to a white father from Wales and a Zambian mother.
After his swearing in, three of the four heads of government of the British parts of the country will be non-white politicians: Scotland's head of government Humza Yousaf is the son of Pakistani immigrants.
Rishi Sunak, Prime Minister of England and Great Britain, is of Indian descent.
Meanwhile, in Northern Ireland, Prime Minister Michelle O'Neill, who has been in office since the beginning of February, has made history by becoming the first Irish nationalist to hold the office, seeking reunification with EU member Ireland and rejecting remaining in the United Kingdom.
svs/AFP