Mark Drakeford quits: How the ex-probation officer and university lecturer went on to become Welsh First Minister after rising from Labour’s left-wing – while also battling family difficulties with his rapist son’s imprisonment and wife’s sudden death
When he was campaigning to be Welsh First Minister more than five years ago, Mark Drakeford described himself as a ’21st-century socialist’.
He also pledged his loyalty to Labour’s then national leader Jeremy Corbyn during his rise to power in Wales from the party’s left-wing.
Mr Drakeford, who this morning announced his exit as First Minister, spoke half-a-decade ago of a ‘common wealth’ and an intention to ensure ‘the fruits are then shared out fairly for all’.
His political views were shaped during a childhood in Carmarthen, west Wales, and an early career as a probation officer in inner-city Cardiff.
After his entry into the Welsh Senedd in 2011, it took Mr Drakeford seven-and-a-half years to reach the top job as First Minister.
But while he was climbing the political ladder, he also faced family turbulence with the jailing of his son for rape in 2018.
Tragedy struck Mr Drakeford in January this year, shortly after he entered his fifth year as Welsh First Minister, when his wife Clare suddenly died.
Labour’s Mark Drakeford is standing down as Welsh First Minister after five years in power in Cardiff
The politician pictured with his late wife Clare during a T20 cricket match between Glamorgan and Middlesex in June 2021
Mr Drakeford pictured with Labour’s then national leader Jeremy Corbyn at a coffee shop in Barry in December 2019
Jay Humphries was sentenced to more than eight years in prison in 2018 under his old name, Jonathan Drakeford, after being found guilty of rape and inflicting actual bodily harm
Mark Drakeford’s life and political career
1954: Born in Carmarthenshire. He is raised in West Wales before going to study Latin at the University of Exeter.
1977: Marries Clare Buckle, with whom he has three children. She died in January.
1980s and 1990: Sits as a Labour councillor on South Glamorgan County Council.
1991-1995: Works as a lecturer in applied social studies at what is now the University of Swansea.
1997: Works for the Yes for Wales campaign in the referendum on devolution.
2000 – 2010: Welsh government health and social policy adviser and later head of First Minister Rhodri Morgan’s political office.
2011: Elected to the Senedd as Member for Cardiff West, an area he has lived in since the 1970s.
2013: Appointed minister for health and social services.
2016: Made cabinet secretary for finance and local government.
2018, September: His son Jonathan, then 31, is jailed for almost nine years for rape.
2018, October: Becomes the leader of Welsh Labour and then First Minister, replacing Carwyn Jones, after beating Vaughan Gething.
2020: In October he breaks with UK-wide Covid protocols to bring in a two-week ‘firebreak lockdown, while England was still under localised restrictions.
2023, September: Drakeford’s government reduces the statutory speed limit on Welsh restricted roads – those with streetlights no more than 200 yards apart – from 30mph to 20mph.
2023, December: Announces he is to step down after serving a five-year term
Born and raised in Carmarthenshire, Mr Drakeford has lived in the Pontcanna area of Cardiff for more than 30 years.
Before entering politics he worked as a probation officer in the Welsh capital before becoming a lecturer at Swansea University and then Cardiff University, where he became professor of social policy and applied social sciences.
His first move into government came as a special adviser to former first minister Rhodri Morgan.
He wrote Mr Morgan’s ‘clear red water’ speech which promoted the differences between Labour in Wales and New Labour in London under Tony Blair.
Mr Drakeford was first elected to the Senedd in 2011 as the Member for Cardiff West when he succeeded Mr Morgan in the constituency.
He served in various ministerial roles from 2013 under the leadership of Carwyn Jones, before succeeding Mr Jones as First Minister and Welsh Labour leader in December 2018.
Seen as on the left of Labour, when he became Welsh Labour leader in 2018 he promised to govern ‘in the radical socialist tradition of Aneurin Bevan and Michael Foot’.
He was the only member of the Welsh Government cabinet to vote for Mr Corbyn during his first national leadership bid in 2015.
In office, Mr Drakeford largely maintained Labour’s enduring dominance of Welsh politics – leading the party to a strong performance in the 2021 Senedd elections.
When the Covid crisis hit in early 2020, Mr Drakeford and other devolved leaders – such as Scotland’s Nicola Sturgeon – saw their popularity soar as they led their nations through the pandemic.
Mr Drakeford copied both then-prime minister Boris Johnson and Ms Sturgeon in holding daily TV briefings.
He often found himself at odds with Westminster over what level of pandemic restrictions to impose, as all four nations of the UK pursued their own Covid rules.
As the pandemic eased, Mr Drakeford saw a slide in his approval ratings among Welsh voters as he was confronted by various crises in public services.
Last month, NHS waiting times hit another record high for those waiting for hospital treatment in Wales.
Mr Drakeford also faced intense anger over his imposition of widespread 20mph limits on Welsh roads.
A recent YouGov poll of Welsh voters found Mr Drakeford’s popularity to be at an 18-month low, with more than half believing he is doing a bad job of being First Minister.
Mr Drakeford spent most of 2020 isolating from his wife Clare in a hut in their garden in order to keep her and her elderly mother safe while they were shielding during the Covid pandemic.
His marriage to Clare saw the couple have three children.
Their son, now known as Jay Humphries, was jailed this summer for breaching a sex offender’s order after his release from prison.
He was sentenced to more than eight years in prison in 2018 under his old name, Jonathan Drakeford, after being found guilty of rape and inflicting actual bodily harm.
At the beginning of this year, Mr Drakeford was struck by tragedy when Clare died suddenly.
Following the funeral, Mr Drakeford – who took compassionate leave – spoke of an ‘incredibly difficult’ few weeks for his family but offered his thanks ‘for the many kind words of support we have received’.
Prior to his resignation as Welsh Labour leader today, Mr Drakeford had previously announced his intention to quit the Welsh Parliament at the next Senedd elections in 2026.
But he signalled he planned to remain involved in political debate even if he was away from the frontline.
‘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”,’ Mr Drakeford said in August.
‘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.’
His exit as First Minister comes amid tensions with Labour’s national leader Sir Keir Starmer, who recently admitted to ‘challenges’ in his relationship with the Welsh administration in Cardiff.
Sir Keir has also attempted to backtrack from a past claim that Mr Drakeford’s Welsh Government would be a ‘blueprint for what Labour can do across the UK’.
The Labour leader today hailed Mr Drakeford as a ‘titan’ of Welsh politics, but Sir Keir’s spokesman wouldn’t say whether he was sad to see the First Minister go.
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