, insignia = First Minister of Wales logo.png , insigniasize = 120px , insigniacaption = Logo , flag = Flag of Wales.svg , flagsize = 120px , flagborder = yes , flagcaption =

Flag of Wales The flag of Wales ( cy, Baner Cymru or , meaning 'the red dragon') consists of a red dragon passant on a green and white field. As with many heraldic charges, the exact representation of the dragon is not standardised and many renderings e ...

, image = File:Mark Drakeford (cropped).jpg , imagesize = , alt = , incumbent = Mark Drakeford , acting = , incumbentsince = , department =

Welsh Government , image = , caption = , date_established = , country = Wales , address = , leader_title = First Minister () , appointed = First Minister approved by the Senedd, ceremonially appointed ...

Welsh Cabinet
Senedd , style = First Minister
(informal)

The Right Honourable ''The Right Honourable'' (abbreviation: ''Rt Hon.'' or variations) is an honorific Style (form of address), style traditionally applied to certain persons and collective bodies in the United Kingdom, the former British Empire and the Commonwealth ...

(UK and Commonwealth)

His Excellency Excellency is an honorific style given to certain high-level officers of a sovereign state, officials of an international organization, or members of an aristocracy. Once entitled to the title "Excellency", the holder usually retains the righ ...

(international) , type = , status =

Head of Government The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presides over a cabinet, ...

, abbreviation = FM , member_of = , reports_to = Senedd , seat =

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

, nominator = Senedd , appointer = The Monarch , appointer_qualified = , termlength = Five years , termlength_qualified = , constituting_instrument = , precursor = , formation = 12 May 1999 , first = Alun Michael AM , last = , abolished = , succession = , unofficial_names = , deputy = , salary = £148,575 per annum (including £67,920 MS salary) , website = The first minister of Wales ( cy, prif weinidog Cymru) is the leader of the

and keeper of the

Welsh Seal The Welsh Seal () is a seal used for Wales. Independent Wales Seals were used by the native Princes of Wales during Welsh independence. Llywelyn the Great On Llywelyn the Great' (Llywelyn ap Iorwerth) seal is dated to 1240. Llywelyn is pi ...

. The first minister chairs the Welsh Cabinet and is primarily responsible for the formulation, development and presentation of Welsh Government policy. Additional functions of the first minister include promoting and representing Wales in an official capacity, at home and abroad, and responsibility for constitutional affairs, as they relate to devolution and the Welsh Government. The first minister is a Member of the Senedd, and is nominated by the Senedd (Welsh Parliament; )—before being officially appointed by the

Monarch A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority and power i ...

. Members of the Welsh Cabinet and junior ministers of the Welsh Government, as well as law officers, are appointed by the first minister. As head of the Welsh Government, the first minister is directly accountable to the Senedd for their actions and the actions of the Welsh Government. The main office of the first minister is in

Tŷ Hywel Tŷ Hywel (Hywel House or Hywel's House) is a building in Cardiff, Wales, used by the Senedd (Welsh Parliament; ; formerly the National Assembly for Wales). It is named after the medieval king (''Howell the Good''), King of Deheubarth in South W ...

which is adjacent to the

Senedd building The Senedd building () in Cardiff houses the debating chamber and three committee rooms of the Senedd (Welsh Parliament; , formerly the National Assembly for Wales). The Senedd building was opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 1 March 2006, Saint ...

in Cardiff Bay. An additional office is also kept at the Crown Buildings,

Cathays Park Cathays Park ( cy, Parc Cathays) or Cardiff Civic Centre is a civic centre area in the city centre of Cardiff, the capital city of Wales, consisting of a number of early 20th century buildings and a central park area, Alexandra Gardens. It i ...

which is the headquarters of the

. Mark Drakeford of the

Welsh Labour Party Welsh Labour ( cy, Llafur Cymru) is the branch of the United Kingdom Labour Party in Wales and the largest party in modern Welsh politics. Welsh Labour and its forebears won a plurality of the Welsh vote at every UK general election since 192 ...

is the current first minister of Wales. He assumed office on 13 December 2018 as Wales' fourth First Minister, and the fourth first minister from the Labour Party, succeeding

Carwyn Jones Carwyn Howell Jones (born 21 March 1967) is a Welsh politician who served as First Minister of Wales and Leader of Welsh Labour from 2009 to 2018. He served as Counsel General for Wales from 2007 to 2009. Jones served as the Member of the S ...

Terminology

Where initially established under the

Government of Wales Act 1998 The Government of Wales Act 1998 (c. 38) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was passed in 1998 by the Labour government to create a Welsh Assembly, therefore granting Wales a degree of self-government. This legislative ...

, Section 53(1), the post was known as ''Assembly First Secretary'' ( cy, Prif Ysgrifennydd y Cynulliad), as Wales was given a less powerful assembly and executive than either

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. The choice of title was also attributed to the fact that the Welsh term for ''First Minister'', ''Prif Weinidog'', may also be translated as ''Prime Minister'', so a different title was chosen to avoid confusion with the

prime minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern ...

. The change of title occurred after the Liberal Democrats formed a coalition government with Labour in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

in October 2000. The

Government of Wales Act 2006 The Government of Wales Act 2006 (c 32) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed the then-National Assembly for Wales (now the Senedd) and allows further powers to be granted to it more easily. The Act creates a system o ...

allowed for the post to be officially known as "''First Minister''" and also made the first minister '' Keeper of the Welsh Seal''. On 22 October 2021, Mark Drakeford, the incumbent First Minister, changed his Twitter handle from @fmwales to @PrifWeinidog, in what has been described by some media as an effort to increase usage of the shortened Welsh language term for First Minister and Prime Minister. The post remains officially and commonly known as "First Minister" in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Nomination and appointment

Candidates for the position of First Minister are nominated by the members of the Senedd. The members elect the nominee for the first minister by majority vote. If no one is elected by a majority of votes cast with the first set of nominations, the process continues until a majority decide to cast their vote for one candidate. This process does not require an

absolute majority A supermajority, supra-majority, qualified majority, or special majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of more than one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority r ...

of the Senedd (currently 31 out of 60 members) Once this process has occurred the presiding officer shall formally send a letter to the reigning Monarch who must then appoint that nominee to the position of First Minister.

Role

Under the arrangements in the

, executive functions are conferred on the Senedd and then separately delegated to the first minister and to other Cabinet Ministers and staff as appropriate. Until the Government of Wales Act 2006, these were delegated powers of the

UK government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_est ...

. Since that Act came into force in May 2007, however, the first minister is appointed by the

monarch A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority and power i ...

and represents

the Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...

in Wales. Whilst this has little practical difference, it was a huge symbolic shift as for the first time the head of government in Wales is appointed by the Crown on the advice of the elected representatives of the Welsh people. The first minister appoints the Welsh Ministers, Deputy Welsh Ministers and the Counsel General for Wales (collectively known as the

), with the approval of The British sovereign. Following separation between the legislative and the executive on the enactment of the

(upon appointment of the first minister, 25 May 2007), the Welsh Ministers exercise functions in their own right. Any further transfers of executive functions from the UK Government will be made directly to the Welsh Ministers (with their consent) by an Order in Council approved by Parliament. The first minister is accountable and responsible for: * Exercise of functions by the Cabinet of the Welsh Government * Policy development and coordination of policy * The relationships with the rest of the United Kingdom, Europe and Wales Abroad * Staffing/Civil Service.

References

Sources

*Dates are fro
World Statesmen
and various BBC News Online articles from 1999 to 2003.

External links