Eluned Morgan

Mair Eluned Morgan, Baroness Morgan of Ely, (born 16 February 1967) is a Welsh politician who served as First Minister of Wales and Leader of Welsh Labour from 2024 to 2026. Morgan was the first woman and the first member of the House of Lords to serve as First Minister. Before becoming First Minister, she served as Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care from 2021 to 2024. Morgan has been a member of the House of Lords since 2011, a member of the Senedd (MS) from 2016 to 2026 and was a member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 1994 to 2009. She is currently on leave of absence from the House of Lords. A Welsh speaker, Morgan served as Minister for the Welsh Language from 2017 to 2021 as well as Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing from 2020 to 2021. As leader of Welsh Labour and First Minister, Morgan has revived Welsh Labour's clear red water strategy used by some of her predecessors, shifting Welsh Labour back to the political left and distancing it from the centrist UK Labour leadership of Keir Starmer, criticising some of the policies implemented by Starmer's government. Having led the party into the 2026 Senedd elections, Morgan lost her seat contesting the Ceredigion Penfro constituency, becoming the first leader of a government in the UK to be unseated while still in office. She subsequently announced that she would stand down as leader of Welsh Labour, initiating the 2026 Welsh Labour leadership election.