Later this morning, first minister Vaughan Gething finally heeded the calls and announced his resignation after four months in the role that have been mired in controversy.

James, the cabinet secretary for housing, local government and planning and three of her ministerial colleagues, Mick Antoniw, Lesley Griffiths and Jeremy Miles, made the move in protest at Gething’s leadership

Gething is under fire over the decision to sack former minister Hannah Blythyn over a text message, which she denies leaking, as well as question marks over donations he took during his campaign to lead Welsh Labour.

Housing secretary James told Gething: “We must begin to repair this damage immediately and I am extremely sorry to tell you that I do not think you are capable of being the leader who can lead us through that.”

Propertymark policy and campaigns officer Tim Thomas says: “The housing sector in Wales faces key challenges and property agents need to see stable leadership to help meet these head on and implement planned reforms.

“The process for appointing Vaughan Gething as First Minister in March has already delayed the Welsh Government’s proposed white paper on fair rents and adequate housing from the summer to the autumn.

“This instability should not be allowed to continue – Welsh Labour must appoint a new leader quickly to guarantee consistency and give confidence to property professionals, renters, landlords and home buyers and sellers.

“Ultimately, the new First Minister should use their appointment as a fresh opportunity to stop any chance of rent control measures becoming a reality, review all costs and taxes impacting private landlords to tackle the supply and demand crunch in the private rented sector, continue to engage with property professionals to improve building safety across Wales and extend Help to Buy to the second-hand housing market in order to boost home ownership.”