Who will replace Vaughan Gething? The runners and riders to be Wales’ next first minister

Mr Gething’s announcement will trigger another Welsh Labour leadership contest – the second in the space of a year.

Mr Gething said he would stay in his role as first minister until the Senedd chooses a successor, adding that the executive of Welsh Labour would determine the rules and timetable of the contest.

The Senedd “will then need to decide whether it wishes to support that person”, he said on Tuesday.

“Early in the autumn a new person will be stood here as the leader of Welsh Labour, and this place will need to decide whether to elect that person as a candidate to be first minister,” he said.

There will be some formalities – at some point we would expect Welsh Labour to agree a timetable.

And Mr Gething will have to formally resign to the King.

Another question arises over whether the opposition would accept the new first minister.

There would need to be a vote confirming the next Welsh Labour leader to the top job.

In the past, the opposition has effectively allowed this to go ahead, but the numbers are such that they could frustrate the process in a tied vote.

In theory, this could force a Senedd election.