Company which donated £200,000 to Vaughan Gething's First Minister bid wants to build huge solar farm

WalesOnline reporter Will Hayward’s investigation into a £200,000 donation to First Minister Vaughan Gething’s election campaign “was more than a story that was handed to the journalist – it involved perseverance and doggedness”, judges said. That included navigating the obscure and opaque planning system in Wales, and sifting through every single donation that both Gething and his leadership rival Jeremy Miles had received. It eventually led directly to the resignation of the most powerful man in Wales.

Hayward didn’t stop with one exclusive as he went on to reveal questions behind the source of the donation from an environmental firm – run by a man who was prosecuted for illegally dumping waste on a conservation site – publishing a series of articles as the situation developed and keeping readers updated via the website and newsletters. Hayward also produced a video explainer of the situation to help reach as many people as possible. 

Hayward said he is “immensely proud” of the huge amount of work that went into holding Gething to account, while judges said it was hard to deny the impact of this scoop. They praised the “strong reporting and quality journalism, which shows extensive investigation skills”. 

“It is an important public interest story and a good example of in-depth political reporting,” they added.