↓ How were the current Members of the Senedd elected?
↓ How will Members be elected in 2026?
How were the current Members of the Senedd elected?
The Senedd has 60 Members. Forty of them are constituency Members, representing the same local constituencies as Westminster MPs. The remaining 20 are regional Members, who represent one of the five regions of Wales.
You are represented in the Senedd by five Members. One for your constituency and four for the region of Wales you live in.
All regional and constituency Members have equal status in the Senedd. Meaning that the interests of all of Wales’s regions and constituencies are equally represented.
Constituency Members
The 40 constituency Members of the Senedd were elected using the first-past-the-post system. This means the candidate with most votes was elected to each constituency.
Regional Members
The five regions of Wales are: North Wales, Mid and West Wales, South Wales West, South Wales Central, South Wales East. Each has four ‘seats’, which means each region elected four Members at the last Senedd election.
The 20 regional Members were elected using a proportional representation system.
Here's how the regional system worked:
- each party or group in a region presented a list of candidates;
- electors voted for the person they want to represent their region;
- the votes for the regions were usually counted after the constituency votes had been decided;
- each party’s total was divided by 1 + the number of Members of the Senedd it already had in that region;
- the party with the highest total after this calculation got the next seat and the person on top of its list was elected;
- the same pattern was repeated until all four regional seats were decided.
The combination of the two voting systems used to elect constituency and regional Members is known as the Additional Member System.
The Additional Member System helped the final make-up of the Senedd better reflect the support for each party across the country.
The 2026 Senedd election
The election on 7 May 2026 marks the biggest change to the Senedd for 25 years.
What’s changing?
- There will be a different voting system at the 2026 Senedd election, to make your vote count more than ever.
- Wales will be split into 16 constituencies, replacing the constituencies and regions it has now.
- Each constituency will have six seats, which means each of the new constituencies will elect six Members.
- In total, 96 Members will be elected to the Senedd from across the country to represent everyone in Wales.
How will Members be elected in 2026?
A new voting system
The new system is called a ‘closed proportional list system.’ This means the number of seats a party or independent candidate wins will more closely reflect the percentage of votes they get.
The voting process
- Political parties will prepare a list of up to eight candidates for each constituency. Independent candidates can also stand for election.
- On election day, everyone age 16 and over will have one vote for the party or independent candidate they want to represent their constituency.
- Your ballot paper will show the candidate lists for your area, so you can see who is standing for each party, along with any independent candidates.
Winning seats
- Seats will be allocated based on the share of votes each party or independent candidate receives.
- So, if Party A gets 50% of the votes in a constituency, it is likely they would get three of the six seats. If Party B gets 30%, it is likely they would get two of the six seats.
- Under the list system, if a party wins enough votes to gain three seats, the top three people on their list will be elected as Members of the Senedd.
- Independent candidates will also win seats if they have enough votes.
For a more in-depth look at how this works, see What is the D’Hondt formula?
How is this system different?
In previous Senedd elections, proportional representation was used to elect your regional Members of the Senedd.
However, a 'first past the post' system was used to elect your constituency Members. This is also the system used in UK General Elections, to elect your MP.
Under this system the person with the most votes wins. This means that only the votes for the person who won contributed to the final result.
Every vote matters
At the Senedd election in 2026, all seats will be allocated based on the share of votes each party or independent candidate gets.
The new system means that your vote is more likely to help decide the overall result, because seats in the Senedd will be allocated based on the total share of the vote.
Which means that the final make-up of the Senedd will better represent voters’ choice across Wales.
Election results
Explore the results from Senedd elections and by-elections.
