He has stood down with immediate effect
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Mark Drakeford has announced he will stand down as Welsh Labour leader immediately and a leadership contest for a new first minister will be held.
A new party leader will be elected before Easter, Mr Drakeford said in a statement.
Mr Drakeford, 69, the Cardiff West Member of the Senedd (MS), has been first minister for five years.
Speaking at a hastily arranged press conference in the Welsh Parliament, Mr Drakeford said: "When I stood for the leadership, I said that, if elected, I would serve for five years.
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U wot? 😂
There must be something more to the resignation than “I said I’d do five years and I have”. Although… with Mark it could quite well be the case.
Let’s hope he’s not a nonce or has done a Sturgeon the party funds are just resting overnight in my new campervan thing.
I’m pretty sure it is just he said 5 years and it’s been 5 years. It was expected he would resign in 2024 but guess he wanted Christmas off.
I think it’s better this way so that the next First Minister gets a few years in before the next election, rather than change just before an election.
“Mr Drakeford will step down in March”
Maybe he wanted Easter off!
Also he was leader during a pandemic which will have been especially stressful and his wife died earlier this year. I suspect he’s done with politics (he’s an academic in a previous career) and wants to do other things with his life.
