Support our Nation today - please donate here
News

Call for Senedd to return to elections every four years as Westminster poised to scrap fixed terms

06 Jul 2021 2 minute read
Voting in Wales

A Labour Senedd Member has called for the Welsh parliament to return to four-year terms in the future as Westminster looks set to scrap its Fixed Term Parliament Act.

The Fixed Term Parliament Act, brought up under the 2010 Conservative-Lib Dem Coalition, sought to ensure that Westminster elections took place at a regular rhythm of every five years.

As a result, the Senedd also set its terms at five rather than four years in order that Welsh elections did not clash with any future Westminster ones, as they would otherwise have done in 2015.

However, the Fixed Term Parliament Act has since been overruled twice, with General Elections taking place in 2017 and 2019 despite only two years having elapsed since the last poll.

MPs will today debate scrapping the act altogether. The Conservative Party, currently in government, is committed to repealing the act, returning the power to ask the Monarch to call an election to the Prime Minister rather than requiring a vote at Westminster.

The Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Bill will get its Second Reading at Westminster later today.

Labour backbencher Alun Davies, MS for Blaenau Gwent, said that this should prompt the Senedd to return to its normal routine of elections every four years.

“Westminster is debating the repeal of the Fixed Term Parliament Act today,” he said. “This means that our Senedd can return to four-year terms. This is a reform I will be proposing as soon as possible.”

That would mean that the next Senedd election would take place in 2025 rather than 2026.


Support our Nation today

For the price of a cup of coffee a month you can help us create an independent, not-for-profit, national news service for the people of Wales, by the people of Wales.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
6 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Stephen George
Stephen George
3 years ago

Hear, hear! Five years is a ludicrously long term.

Chris
Chris
3 years ago

So the Johnsonites want to scrap fixed terms (legislation that they brought in and that they have broken twice in the decade since it was introduced).
Johnson will be looking at another snap election soon then. I reckon being the worst PM of all time (WOAT) has not been the jolly jape he thought it would be and he wants out with all the loot he and his rotten chums can carry

hdavies15
hdavies15
3 years ago

…and while they are at it create a rule that limits any A.S to 3 x 4 year terms. Long enough otherwise they will lose touch with the real world. That said some of them seem to have lost touch before entering ! Situation in Westminster is even worse.

Chris
Chris
3 years ago
Reply to  hdavies15

Seems reasonable. I’d actually say 2 terms maximum myself. For UKBIN too (whilst we are still stick with it)

Shan Morgain
3 years ago
Reply to  hdavies15

If someone is good and their constituents want them, I do not see why they should not continue. It should rest with the people’s vote. That’s democracy.

defaid
defaid
3 years ago
Reply to  Shan Morgain

Yes. If any administration provides stability and prosperity then it should be retained, not dismissed on a mechanical rule.

Our Supporters

All information provided to Nation.Cymru will be handled sensitively and within the boundaries of the Data Protection Act 2018.