The Sixth Senedd has 12 committees that look at the work of the Welsh Government and other public organisations on specific subjects - like health, the economy and education.
They carry out inquiries and create reports, examining proposed laws and holding Welsh Government ministers to account.
Elected Members of the Senedd form the committees and a chair is nominated to lead the committee and its work.
But how are the chairs of these committees nominated?
Let’s break down how the process works.
How do nominations to chair of Senedd Committee work?
Members of the Senedd will be asked to nominate who they want to chair each of the Senedd’s committees.
Nominees for chair can only be from the political group that’s been allocated that committee.
Here’s how the chairs are nominated:
What does the secret ballot involve?
The process of the secret ballot takes place outside of Plenary.
During the ballot, Members will each cast their vote for who they want to be chair. The votes are then counted and the outcome depends on a number of scenarios.
Voting scenarios:
- One nomination, that has been objected to: Members will be asked to vote for or against that candidate. To be elected, the Member must receive more than half of the votes cast in that ballot.
- Two nominations: Members will be asked to select their preferred candidate. The Member who gets most votes wins. If the vote is tied, Members vote again.
- More than two nominations: Members will vote by ranking as many candidates as they wish in order of preference. If no Member receives more votes than are cast for all the other candidates in a ballot, the candidate who has received the smallest number of first preferences must be excluded and their votes distributed among the remaining candidates according to the next preferences. This process will be repeated until one candidate obtains more votes than are cast for all the other candidates in the ballot. If the last two candidates are tied – vote again.
When are the results announced?
The Llywydd announces who is elected as the chair of each committee in Plenary after voting time. You can watch the nominations and the result live on Senedd TV.
More about Senedd Committees
Discover more about the work and role of Senedd Committees.
