All 60 Members will meet for the first Plenary of the new National Assembly for Wales, which will take place 1.30 on 11 May in the Senedd.
The first item of business for the new Assembly is the election of a Presiding Officer. A newly appointed Presiding Officer and Deputy Presiding Officer must be elected at the Assembly’s first meeting after the election and that meeting must take place within seven working days after the election.
If there is only one nomination for the office of Presiding Officer, and no-one objects to that nomination, that Member becomes the Presiding Officer. If more than one Member is nominated, or there is an objection to the one nomination made, the election takes place through a secret ballot outside the Siambr in the Cwrt area of the Senedd.
The Presiding Officer shapes every aspect of the Assembly – from its day-to-day operation, the routine management of business, to its development as the primary democratic institution in Wales, its position in the constitution of the UK and its standing in the eyes of the public.
Other items of business, for example the election of a First Minister, can be allowed at the first meeting under Standing Order 12.10.
The newly-elected Presiding Officer will decide the dates of future Plenary meetings until such time as a Business Committee can be established. This is a requirement of the National Assembly’s Standing Orders, the rules by which Assembly Business is conducted.
Procedures for electing the Presiding Officer and Deputy Presiding Officer