In the run-up to the upcoming 2021 Senedd Election, Nub News is profiling the candidates running for Cardiff South and Penarth.

Perhaps the "Meet the Candidate" format is less appropriate when that candidate is Vaughan Gething, who must be among the UK's most televised politicians of the past year.

We met Vaughan and his team of canvassers while out campaigning around Belle Vue Park this afternoon.

"I didn't expect to be a politician," he said, when asked about his path into politics.

"My father was from South Wales. My mother grew up in Zambia. My father went and got a job as a vet in Zambia and met my mother and had lots of kids and I'm one of those."

The family moved from Zambia to Monmouthshire when Vaughan was two and from there to Dorset.

Vaughan studied law at Aberystwyth University and then Cardiff University before accepting a training contract with Thompsons Solicitors in Cardiff.

By the time he became a partner in 2007, he had already been elected as Cardiff Councillor for Butetown three years prior.

"I did one term and lost my seat," he said. "It made me think, 'If I could do politics full-time, then I want to as you get to make a difference.

"Lorraine Barrett [as MS for Cardiff South and Penarth] stood down and I was selected and elected."

Vaughan has represented the constituency in the Senedd for exactly ten years as of tomorrow.

How has he improved the lives of Penarthians over that time?

"A lot of it is about the normal things you do to help families. We help hundreds of people each year who come to us with different challenges and problems.

"I really got involved early on in the conversation with the Vale Council about the Penarth Learning Community.

"There's now a fantastic new building there, and that benefits the staff who go into the workplace as well as the kids as well as the community."

But Vaughan is not only being judged on his record as MS. When he was chosen as Minister for Health and Social Services in 2016, no one could have foreseen that three years later he would be at the forefront of Wales' response to a global pandemic.

"The last year has been really extraordinary and the biggest challenge has been to keep your head and make big decisions, because lots of the choices we've had to make have been awful.

"There have been times when there isn't a good choice, but you still have to choose."

Does he have any regrets?

"Yeah, I do. Part of it is wishing that we knew more before it all began, as we would have made some different choices if we had done.

"For example, the decision about stopping NHS treatment on the 13th of March last year. I do think that was the right choice, but actually if we knew what we know now we would have locked down earlier, and I think we would have saved more lives.

"Again, with the firebreak, at that point in time when we made that decision the rest of the UK weren't going with us on the firebreak.

"If they had been, we could have probably done another week and had an opportunity to reset things. That didn't happen.

"And then the awful question about Christmas easing. I think if I had my time again, I reckon we would have probably made that choice earlier as well.

"As it was, we made that decision when the rest of the UK did. But each day of delaying that cost someone somewhere.

"But also you know that each day you stay open, businesses are able to function and then there's the challenge of people's mental health.

"There's never been an easy choice at any point, but people understand that it's been incredibly difficult and they're prepared to cut us some slack. We've always been honest."

Vaughan certainly has one additional regret from 2020. Back in April, he failed to mute his microphone while swearing about fellow Labour MS Jenny Rathbone during a virtual session of the Senedd.

"It was embarrassing. But who doesn't sound off when they're frustrated? You don't go out of your way to be rude to people, but actually if you're someone who never cusses and curses when you're annoyed about something then you're not like most of the rest.

"Someone said to me, 'he swears and he eats chips; he's normal'."

Vaughan has made no secret of his lofty political ambitions, telling us, "I ran in the previous leadership contest and I wouldn't say I'm uninterested in the future".

Over the course of this campaign, some of Vaughan's rival candidates have accused him of prioritising Welsh Government responsibilities over his constituency.

What does Vaughan make of the accusation that he has grown disconnected from his community?

"The town is my home. I shop in the same shops. I go to pubs with my family here. I walk my son to school. I walk my dog around the town as well. So I am very much part of the town.

"I think there are lots of part of life where you have to be connected because you're a dad. It's a bit of a lazy thing to say 'because you're a minister, you have to be entirely disconnected'.

"It's not a usual life being a Minister at any time, especially during a pandemic. And, actually, I have felt disconnected from the constituency over the past year because I've had so much responsibility […] and that's hard as a politician as you want to be connected to the community.

"The challenge always is: have we done enough? From a Welsh Labour point of view I would always say 'no', because there is always more to achieve. We always want to do more."