Landmark law gives voters power to remove Members of the Senedd
The Senedd has taken a significant step to further strengthen democratic accountability by passing the Senedd Cymru (Member Accountability and Elections) Bill.
For the first time, the people of Wales will be able to remove their Member of the Senedd between elections.
The legislation includes a recall system with two clear triggers: automatic recall for any Member who receives a prison sentence of any length (including a suspended sentence); and discretionary recall where the Standards of Conduct Committee recommends removal for serious misconduct, subject to a majority vote of the whole Senedd.
The existing Senedd standards system will also be strengthened.
There will be a legal requirement for every Senedd to establish a Standards of Conduct Committee, which could include independent lay members to bring external, independent expertise to the Senedd’s standards process.
The Commissioner for Standards will gain additional powers to investigate concerns about Members’ conduct.
The legislation also tackles deliberate deception in elections, placing a legal duty on the next Welsh Government to prohibit false statements in the regulations governing Senedd elections.
Counsel General and Minister for Delivery Julie James said: “For the first time, people in Wales will have the power to remove a Member of the Senedd who has seriously broken the rules. I believe that is exactly as it should be in a healthy, accountable democracy.
“This Bill has been built on a solid foundation of cross-party work and the thorough, evidence-based recommendations of the Standards of Conduct Committee. I am grateful to Members across the chamber for their constructive engagement throughout this process.
“We have delivered on our commitment to put primary legislation in place before this Senedd ends. The Seventh Senedd will now take forward the remaining implementation work, and I am confident that Welsh democracy will be stronger for it.”
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But we won’t have a memeber of the Senedd.
We shall each have six, from a mixture of parties.
If a member dies or resigns, he/she will be replaced by a person of the same party.
I assume the same will have to be true in the conditions described in the article.
Oh! And in the case of deliberate deception, will it apply to all the members of that party.
And how will they be replaced?
There have been a few Senedd members who have received prison sentences (some suspended) which will now ben banned from holding office. Most notable are those involved in the Welsh road sign campaign, the TV licence strikes for S4C, and anti-nukes at Faslane. Also, I wonder if Julie James (Labour) has considered Dic Penderyn, Emily Pankhurst and Oscar Wilde? It should be up to the electorate to decide these matters not the dictate of constitutional lawyers.
“Deliberate Deception”? Ok – nobody can argue with the principle but in this world where fact and opinion are now apparently indistinguishable, how can this be policed? We have Trumps “Alternative Facts” and Meghans “My Truths” as seeming catch all declarations that facts can anything you believe them to be. One obvious contemporary problem is gender politics. What are we doing with those politicians who declare that a biological man is actually a biological woman? That is clearly a factually incorrect statement that is deliberately intended to deceive. Something tells me though that “deliberate deceptions” that are deemed politically acceptable… Read more »