What are the challenges facing the new First Minister Vaughan Gething?

Vaughan Gething has spoken to the Prime Minister and the First Minister of Scotland this afternoon and will swear his oath to the King this evening.With those steps, he marks his formal transformation from minister to First Minister and begins the next vital steps of his time in charge.They will be difficult to navigate. As he names his cabinet he will be conscious of the need to balance appointments between rewards for supporters and olive branches for those who backed Jeremy Miles.Even so, not all of those will want to serve in his government and that could store up difficulties further down the line.What we saw today was a moment of Labour loyalty. In itself that’s no surprise; other parties look at Welsh Labour’s tribalism with both frustration and envy.But behind closed doors there has been concern and even anger from Vaughan Gething’s fellow Labour MSs.

It’s been a tense few days, one told me, and predicted that those concerns will resurface in the weeks and months to come, particularly with a U.K. Election ensuring that criticism of Vaughan Gething will feature heavily in political attacks on Keir Starmer.They’re not convinced either that his promise of a review of how campaigns are run is anything more than him simply going along with the calls of others.Amongst some then, there is a level of unhappiness about the new leader that I haven’t seen before or at least heard expressed so frequently, if not openly.And yet.At the same time as hearing those views I’ve spent the day bumping into people telling me how bowled over they were to see what happened today, particularly the inarguably historic significant fact that Mr Gething is the first black First Minister.Many I’ve spoken to today have been thrilled at the message that that sends to young people of all backgrounds.I’m not surprised that opinion is divided - that’s in the nature of politics. I’m surprised that some of that division within Welsh Labour is as deep as it seems to be, even if there’s a determination to portray public unity.It’s also not breaking news that Vaughan Gething is a different kind of leader to Mark Drakeford.More obviously combative and comfortable in the limelight, his time at the top will be different to what we’ve become used to.Welsh politics has just changed, I think in a very significant way although I’m not exactly sure what that change will look like.

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know…