Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill

Consultation: Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill

A Welsh Government Bill, introduced by Mick Antoniw MS, Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution. The Business Committee has referred the Bill to the Reform Bill Committee.

About the Bill

If passed, the Bill will:

>>>>

>>>Increase the size of the Senedd to 96 Members.

>>>Decrease the length of time between Senedd ordinary general elections from five to four years.

>>>Increase the maximum number of Deputy Presiding Officers from one to two.

>>>Increase the legislative limit on the size of the Welsh Government to 17 (plus the First Minister and Counsel General), with power to further increase the limit to 18 or 19.

>>>Require candidates to, and Members of, the Senedd to be resident in Wales (by disqualifying candidates and Members who are not registered to vote in a Senedd constituency).

>>>Provide a mechanism for the Seventh Senedd’s consideration of job-sharing of offices relating to the Senedd (by requiring the Llywydd in the Seventh Senedd to propose the establishment of a Senedd committee to review specified matters).

>>>Change the Senedd’s electoral system so that all Members are elected via closed list proportional representation, with votes translated into seats via the D’Hondt formula.

>>>Repurpose and rename the Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales; provide the renamed Democracy and Boundary Commission Cymru (DBCC) with the functions needed to establish new Senedd constituencies and undertake ongoing reviews of Senedd constituency boundaries; and provide instructions for the DBCC to follow when undertaking boundary reviews.

>>>Provide for review of the operation and effect of the new legislative provisions following the 2026 election (by requiring the Llywydd after the election to propose the establishment of a Senedd committee to review specified matters).

<<<<

Further detail about the Bill can be found in its accompanying Explanatory Memorandum.

Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill, as introduced (PDF, 231KB)

Explanatory Memorandum (PDF, 1.9MB)

Further information and analysis is also available in Senedd Research publications.

Current Stage

BillStage1

The Bill is currently at Stage 1. An explanation of the various stages of Senedd Bills is available in the Guide to the Stages of Public Bills and Acts.

Record of Passage in the Welsh Parliament

The following table sets out the dates for each stage of the Bill’s passage through the Senedd.

¬¬¬Stage 1 (Current)

The Reform Bill Committee agreed its approach to Stage 1 consideration on 20 September 2023.

Committee dates

The Reform Bill Committee will consider the Bill on the following dates:

Date and Agenda	Purpose of meeting	Transcript	Senedd.TV
20 September 2023	Consideration of approach to Stage 1 scrutiny (Private)	n/a	n/a
5 October 2023	Evidence session with the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
26 October 2023	Evidence sessions
9 November 2023	Evidence sessions
15 November 2023	Evidence sessions
22 November 2023	Evidence sessions
30 November 2023	Evidence sessions (to be confirmed)
13 December 2023	Evidence session with the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution

The Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee will consider the Bill on the following dates:

Date and Agenda	Purpose of meeting	Transcript	Senedd.TV
16 October 2023	Evidence session with the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution

The Finance Committee will consider the Bill on the following dates:

Date and Agenda	Purpose of meeting	Transcript	Senedd.TV
11 October 2023	Evidence session with the Senedd Commission
11 October 2023	Evidence session with the Remuneration Board
18 October 2023	Evidence session with the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution