The deadline for sharing your views through this form was 10 November 2023. Thank you to everyone who shared their views with us.
We need your help
The Reform Bill Committee’s role is to look at laws to change the Senedd (known as Senedd Reform).
We are currently looking at the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill, which will change the number of Members and how they are elected.
You can help us with our work by sharing your views on any or all of the questions on this form.
The closing date is 17:00 on Friday 10 November 2023.
We’re sorry if this doesn’t give you very much time, but we want to make sure that we can take your views into account when we question the Welsh Government about the Bill in December.
You don’t have to write much, and you don’t need to answer all of the questions unless you want to.
About the Bill
Some of the main changes planned to the Senedd include:
- Increasing the number of Members of the Senedd from 60 to 96;
- Changing the way that Members of the Senedd are elected;
- Decreasing the length of time between Senedd elections from five years to four years;
- Requiring Members of the Senedd and anyone standing for election to the Senedd must live in Wales.
Later this year, the Welsh Government is expected to introduce a separate Bill looking at the diversity of people standing for Senedd elections and setting out plans to make sure that an equal number of women and men stand for election to the Senedd.
Click on the topics below to find out more.
The Bill increases the number of elected Members from 60 to 96. The job of Members of the Senedd is to oversee what the Welsh Government does. This includes the laws the Welsh Government makes and the money that it spends. Members of the Senedd also represent the people who live in the areas they represent.
A number of reports have said that 60 Members is not enough to do this job.
The Welsh Government says the Senedd is currently too small and risks Members having limited time to:
- check on Welsh Government policies, laws and spending,
- find out what the people of Wales want,
- take on extra work if the Welsh Government is given more powers in the future (known as further devolution), and
- look at UK Government laws and international agreements affecting Wales.
Some people don't think the increase in Members is needed, some people are concerned about the costs, and some people think other things are more important at the moment.
At the moment there are two voting systems to elect the 60 Members of the Senedd. They are:
- a system called First Past the Post, and
- a system called Closed List Proportional Representation System.
First Past the Post
Your first vote is for the person you want to represent your constituency.
Your constituency is your local area. There are 40 constituencies in Wales. For example, Caerphilly is a constituency in south Wales and Wrexham is a constituency in north Wales.
There is only 1 seat in each constituency and the person with the most votes wins. 40 Members of the Senedd are currently elected this way.
The same voting system is used to elect 40 of the 60 Welsh Youth Parliament Members.
Closed List Proportional Representation System
You second vote is for a political party to represent your region.
A political party is a group who agree how to make life better for people. They come together and have a candidate for an election.
In Wales political parties include:
- Plaid Cymru
- Welsh Conservatives
- Welsh Labour
- Welsh Liberal Democrats
There are five regions in Wales:
- North Wales
- Mid and West Wales
- South Wales West
- South Wales Central
- South Wales East
In this vote the political parties win seats in the Senedd. They choose which people from their party get the seats.
This vote is counted in a special way to help make sure the voting is proportional.
Proportional voting means the share of votes a political party gets matches the share of seats it wins.
Twenty Members of the Senedd are currently elected this way - four from each of the five regions.
You may find the videos on this webpage helpful to explain how the Senedd works and how Members of the Senedd are elected.
Introducing a new electoral system
The Bill creates 16 new larger constituencies. Each of the new constituencies will have 6 Members. That will mean 96 Members in total.
It also changes the voting system so that all Members of the Senedd would be elected using a system similar to the Closed List Proportional Representation System that is currently used to elect regional Members.
This means you will just vote once. You can chose to:
- Vote for a political party, or
- Vote for an individual person if they do not belong to a political party.
If you vote for a political party, the political party will decide which people from their party get the seats.
The votes are counted in a special way to try and make sure the Senedd has the same balance of political parties that people have voted for.
Senedd elections used to take place every 4 years. But in 2011 a new law fixed the timing of UK Parliament elections. Senedd elections have since been held every 5 years to avoid clashing with UK Parliament elections. The law changing the time of UK Parliament elections has been removed.
The Bill reduces the length of time between Senedd elections from 5 years to 4 years.
The Welsh Government says Senedd elections should go back to being every 4 years as the law making UK Parliament elections every 5 years has been removed. The Welsh Government says this means that:
- Voters would get the chance to have their say on how politicians representing them are doing more often.
- The Welsh Government would still have enough time to implement its policies.
The Senedd makes laws that affect people living, working and studying in Wales. At the moment people living outside Wales can stand for election to the Senedd.
Different requirements apply to people standing for election in other places. For example, any young person that lives in, or receives their education in Wales, between the ages of 11 and 18 can stand as a candidate for one of the 40 constituency seats in the Welsh Youth Parliament.
The Bill would allow only people who live in Wales to stand for election to the Senedd.
People standing for election could live in anywhere in Wales. For example, someone living in one part of Wales could be elected to represent another part of Wales.
People elected to the Senedd would also be required to live in Wales for as long as they are Members of the Senedd.
The Welsh Government says it is fair that people who want to stand for election to the Senedd or be a Member of the Senedd should have to live in Wales because:
- People who vote in Senedd elections must live in Wales.
- Members of the Senedd make laws that apply to Wales, and people who make the laws should be subject to them.
A number of reports said it would be best to have a diverse Senedd.
Diverse means more Members of the Senedd from different backgrounds, with different abilities and views.
The new voting system puts political parties in charge of which people get their seats. This could make it easier for them to make sure that they choose people from different backgrounds.
The Welsh Government says it will provide guidance to help political parties have plans in place to encourage diversity.
The Welsh Government says it will introduce a separate Bill:
- requiring political parties to put forward an equal number of male and female candidates for election to the Senedd, and
- to make sure diversity information about people standing for election to the Senedd is published.
