Senedd reform

We plan to strengthen democracy by creating a more effective and representative Welsh Parliament.

The Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Act sets out our plans to create a Welsh Parliament that can better serve people in Wales. The Act, which officially passed into law on 24 June 2024 reflects how the role and responsibilities of the Senedd have changed since the National Assembly for Wales first opened its doors in 1999.

The Senedd can now make laws and set Welsh taxes – these are decisions which affect the lives of every single person in Wales.

But while the Senedd gained responsibilities, its capacity stayed the same, making it the smallest legislature in the UK with 60 members compared to 129 in the Scottish Parliament, and 90 in the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Changes brought about by the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Act

On 8 May 2024, Members of the Senedd voted to:

• increase the size of the Senedd to 96 Members.
• change the electoral system to one fully based on the principle of proportional representation, with names of all candidates on the ballot paper. From the 2026 Senedd election, the D’Hondt formula will be used (this formula has been used to determine the Senedd’s regional list Members (Senedd reform: a glossary).
• make 16 new Senedd constituencies, which will be created by pairing the 32 UK Parliamentary constituencies, in time for the 2026 Senedd election. There will be a full boundary review after the 2026 Senedd election
• have 6 Members of the Senedd elected, from closed lists, in each of the 16 constituencies.
• increase the limit on the number of Welsh Ministers who can be appointed from 12 to 17 (plus the First Minister and the Counsel General) with the ability to further increase the number to 18 or 19 with the Senedd’s approval.
• give Members of the Senedd the flexibility to elect a second Deputy Presiding Officer.
• make it law that all candidates for Senedd elections and Members of the Senedd are resident in Wales.
• hold Senedd elections every 4 years from 2026 onwards.

The Act is based on the recommendations of the Special Purpose Committee on Senedd Reform (Reforming our Senedd: A stronger voice for the people of Wales). These recommendations were supported by a majority of Senedd Members in June 2022.

The Senedd Cymru (Electoral Candidate Lists) Bill was introduced on 11 March 2024.

The Bill aimed to make the Senedd more effective by being more representative of the gender make-up of people in Wales.

It proposed putting a legal responsibility on political parties putting forward more than one candidate to ensure:

• women made up at least half of their election candidates for each constituency, and
• a woman was placed at the top of at least half of their constituency candidate lists.

Welsh Government remains committed to a gender balanced Senedd and getting more women into politics but have decided the best way we can achieve practical change for the 2026 Senedd election is to address this issue in a different way.

Diversity and inclusion guidance for political parties

We are developing diversity and inclusion guidance for political parties with the aim of improving diversity in our politics, including having more women in public office.

The guidance aims to encourage political parties to consider what they can do to implement real and practical change leading up to the 2026 Senedd election.

On 12 November we launched a consultation on Diversity and inclusion guidance for registered political parties.

The draft guidance is in three parts and aims to encourage registered political parties to:

• Develop, publish, implement and regularly review diversity and inclusion strategies for Welsh elections (Part 1)
• Voluntarily collect and publish diversity information about their candidates for Senedd elections (Part 2), and
• Consider steps they may take in relation to voluntary quotas for women (Part 3).

The consultation is open until 7 January 2025. Easy Read and BSL versions of the consultation material are also available.

Comments and feedback collected during this consultation will inform the final guidance, which is expected to be published in spring 2025.

Next steps

• Work is now underway to ensure the changes brought about by the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Act will be in place for the 2026 Senedd election.
• A consultation on draft diversity and inclusion guidance for political parties is underway and will end on 7 January 2025. The final guidance is expected to be published in spring 2025 and will aim to encourage political parties to consider the actions they can take to increase diversity and inclusion amongst their candidates for Welsh elections.

The Special Purpose Committee recommendations draw on almost 20 years of detailed work, including:

• 2004: Report of the Commission on the Powers and Electoral Arrangements of the National Assembly for Wales (the Richard Commission) 
• 2014: Devolution in Wales: the Silk Commission
• 2017: A Parliament that works for Wales: The report of the Expert Panel on Assembly Electoral Reform
• 2018: Creating a Parliament for Wales: consultation undertaken by the Senedd Commission
• 2020: Senedd reform: The next steps - Committee on Senedd Electoral Reform

• Diversity and inclusion guidance for registered political parties
• Written Statement: Senedd Cymru (Electoral Candidate Lists) Bill
• Written Statement: Update on Senedd Reform (27 July 2023) 
• Written Statement: Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill
• Written Statement: Update on Senedd Reform (4 April 2023)
• Written Statement: Update on Senedd Reform (16 December 2022)
• Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill: impact assessments
• Senedd Cymru (Electoral Candidate Lists) Bill: impact assessments
• Reform Bill Committee (senedd.wales)