Sacked minister Hannah Blythyn breaks silence

Vaughan Gething must make an urgent statement to the Senedd after a minister sacked for alleged leaks broke her silence, says Plaid Cymru.

In a dramatic statement on Tuesday, Hannah Blythyn told the Senedd she has never leaked to the media.

The first minister had alleged that she was the source of a story which revealed Mr Gething told ministers he was deleting messages from a pandemic-era group chat.

Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Conservatives are calling on Mr Gething to publish the evidence supporting his decision to sack Ms Blythyn.

Ms Blythyn, the Labour Member of the Senedd (MS) for Delyn, said she was not shown any evidence before she was sacked, was not told she was being investigated, and that the situation left her with acute anxiety and stress.

Speaking as Mr Gething watched from the front of the chamber, she said “kinder” and “better” people were needed to improve politics.

“I know that I can look all my colleagues who sit on these [Labour] benches in the eye and say that I have never leaked or briefed the media about any of you,” she said.

Ms Blythyn’s speech was met with applause – some members tapped their desk, including Mr Gething’s former leadership rival Jeremy Miles.

Plaid Cymru Leader Rhun ap Iorwerth has said the first minister needs to make an urgent statement to the Senedd addressing Ms Blythyn’s claims.

The Welsh government has declined to comment.

On Wednesday, Mr ap Iorwerth told Radio Wales Breakfast: “Yesterday was a reminder – I think to all of us – that across party boundaries, we always have to be concerned about each other’s wellbeing.

“There was a great deal of bravery I think shown by Hannah Blythyn in standing up yesterday.

“But what she said underlined the real discrepancies here between, essentially, her version of events and what we are and have been told consistently by the first minister.

“He made it clear that he believed she was at the she was the source of the leak… she says she did no such thing. We need to get to the bottom of this.”

Ms Blythyn was absent from a vote of no confidence that Mr Gething lost in May – colleagues said she was off work sick.

She began her speech on Tuesday by saying there had been times where she was unsure “I would or could stand or speak” in the Senedd debating chamber again.

“Whilst I will not share the detail, I will share that I have formally raised concerns about the process by which I was removed from government, including not being shown any alleged evidence before being sacked, not being made aware that I was ever under investigation and that at no point was I advised or was it evidenced that I may have broken the ministerial code.”

Ms Blythyn said she recognised it was “within the gift of any first minister to appoint and remove members of their government”.

But in a possible reference to the circumstances around the death of Carl Sargeant, the MS said she had “very real concerns that lessons have not been learned from the past”.

She said there had been “speculation about my circumstances and whether I have been well enough to work”.

“This has ranged from what was tantamount to misinformation, and what can be put down to misunderstanding.

“It should not be surprising that what happened has been hugely detrimental to me on a personal level, and led to acute anxiety and stress.”

“I have never been signed off work and I have struggled with this in itself, but there was a point when the thought of just putting my camera on to vote and seeing you literally took my breath away.”

Referring to a BBC radio programme called Broken Politicians, Broken Politics, which Labour colleague Lee Waters contributed to, she said: “I am not broken, but I now know more than I did before that I am breakable, as actually we all are.

“We’ve talked about often in this place a kinder politics – but we cannot have a kinder politics without kinder people.

“We won’t get to better politics without being better people.

“It has been a privilege to serve in my country’s government, particularly under the leadership of Mark Drakeford.”

She added that a “younger me who struggled with her sexuality would never ever have believed that one day I would spearhead plans to make Wales the most LGBTQ+ friendly nation in Europe”.

The personal statement from Ms Blythyn was a surprise addition to the Senedd agenda coming before a statement on Mr Gething’s legislative programme.

She had denied leaking to the media at the time of her sacking.

On the day the decision was announced, Mr Gething said: “Having reviewed the evidence available to me regarding the recent disclosure of communication to the media, I have regrettably reached the conclusion I have no alternative but to ask Hannah Blythyn to leave the government.

“The government has offered ongoing support to the member.”

He said there was a “route back for her to take up a government position again in future”.

Welsh Conservative Senedd leader Andrew RT Davies said Ms Blythyn’s comments “raise more questions for the first minister”.

“People will now rightly ask whether the first minister publicly sacked Hannah without sufficient evidence that she was guilty of leaking,” he said.

“The personal consequences for Hannah of that sacking were clearly enormous, and the first minister owes her a full and humble apology.”

Mr ap Iorwerth has written to the first minister urging him to publish the evidence supporting his sacking of Ms Blythyn.

He called on the first minister to make an “urgent statement in the Senedd tomorrow setting out your response to the concerns raised in today’s personal statement by the member for Delyn”.