Mark Drakeford: Wales First Minister to stand down from Welsh Parliament at next election

Wales’ First Minister Mark Drakeford has confirmed he will quit the Welsh Parliament at the next election.

Drakeford had previously said he would stand down as First Minister before the end of the Senedd term in 2026, although no firm date has yet been set to choose his successor. Economy Minister Vaughan Gething, Education and Welsh Language Minister Jeremy Miles and Health Minister Eluned Morgan are the favourites to replace him as Labour leader.

And now the First Minister has now confirmed he plans to leave the Senedd, the Welsh Parliament, where he currently represents the Cardiff West constituency, at the next election. Drakeford's wife Clare, died suddenly in January. The pair had married in 1977, and had three children together.

Speaking at the National Eisteddfod - an annual festival of Welsh culture - in Boduan, north west Wales, yesterday (10 August) Drakeford said it was “important to have a refresh”. According to the BBC, the Welsh First Minister said: "I think it is difficult for those who will be doing the work in the future to have people like me sitting behind them.

“I don’t want to do that. I think of it like Tony Benn – when he decided to leave the House of Commons, he said ‘I’m going to stop being an MP in order to spend more time in politics’.”

In a question and answer session with Elin Jones, the presiding officer of the Senedd, Drakeford added: “I’m not going to be a Member of the Senedd after 2026 but I am not going to step back from the debate or stop thinking about Wales’ future.”

He was first elected to the Senedd in 2011 as the Member for Cardiff West. He served in various ministerial roles from 2013 under the leadership of Carwyn Jones, before succeeding him as First Minister and Welsh Labour leader in 2018. In the last Senedd election, in 2021, Drakeford led Labour to another majority, increasing the party's seats and vote share.

Drakeford’s televised appearances throughout the Covid pandemic to share details of Wales-specific public health measures are often credited with widening public awareness of the role of the Welsh Parliament and government. Wales had stricter Covid rules than England for much of the pandemic.

He indicated in December that he would end his premiership before the next Senedd elections take place.