WALES is to reform its parliament in order to have a “stronger, more equal, more representative” legislature.
The Labour government in the nation, working with Plaid Cymru as part of their cooperation agreement, has announced plans to increase the number of members elected to the Senedd significantly.
The 60-seat parliament will be increased to 96, and the current voting system overhauled.
As it stands, the Senedd is elected using an additional member system similar to that used to elect MSPs to Holyrood. This will be scrapped in favour of “closed proportional lists with integrated statutory gender quotas and mandatory zipping”.
This means that there will not be any individual MSs (members of the Senedd) elected in a constituency. Instead, all representatives will be put on a list by the party and seats will be allocated working down.
These lists will have to alternate between men and women in an effort to have more equal representation in parliament.
The plan is to have 16 Senedd constituencies each returning six MSs.
A joint statement was put out by First Minister Mark Drakeford and Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price.
Price commented: "A stronger, more equal, more representative Senedd will have greater capacity to perform its primary purpose of making a positive difference to the lives of the people of Wales."
The statement said: “Senedd reform will be implemented in time for the next scheduled election to the Senedd in 2026. As a result, some aspects will need to be delivered on an interim basis.
“The Senedd should have 96 Members. It should be elected using closed proportional lists with integrated statutory gender quotas and mandatory zipping. Seats should be allocated to parties using the D'Hondt formula.
“The 2026 Senedd election should use the final 32 UK Parliament constituencies proposed by the Boundary Commission for Wales once it has concluded its 2023 Parliamentary Review. These constituencies should be paired in order to create 16 Senedd constituencies. Each constituency should elect six Members.
“In addition, a full boundary review should be instigated in this Senedd term and its recommendations should take effect from the subsequent Senedd election. Whilst ensuring that proportionality is maintained or enhanced, the parameters for this review should include, amongst other things, a broadly equal number of electors and the same number of Members per constituency.
“The powers to review Senedd boundaries, including the power to pair constituencies for the 2026 election, should be conferred on the Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales. The Senedd reform legislation should take steps to reconstitute and rename the Commission to reflect its new functions.”
