Reform MS accuses Deputy Llywydd of unfair treatment

Emily Price

A Reform Senedd Member has claimed she was unfairly penalised after the Deputy Llywydd reprimanded her for ignoring several prompts to ask her question after exceeding her allotted speaking time.

Gŵyr Abertawe MS Francesca O’Brien said she was “slammed” and “shut down” by Deputy Presiding Officer Kerry Ferguson and alleged that other politicians had been allowed to go “way over their slot”.

The row took place as Ms O’Brien, Reform’s Shadow Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning, questioned the minister responsible for the portfolio, Siân Gwenllian.

During Plenary proceedings, party spokespeople may ask the relevant portfolio minister three questions, with one minute allocated for each question.

Members are timed using the Chamber clock, which turns red when their allocated time expires.

Ms O’Brien had been using one of her question slots to suggest that social housing is being allocated in Wales to foreign nationals in substantial numbers.

After speaking over her allowed limit, the Reform MS was prompted by the Deputy Llywydd to come to her question.

Ms O’Brien ignored the instruction and carried on with her speech before being prompted by Ms Ferguson again.

The Reform MS responded saying, “Yes, I’m coming to it, thank you,” before continuing with her speech.

A few seconds later Ms Ferguson intervened, calling for the question again.

Ms O’Brien began reading a lengthy question from a piece of paper as Members of the Senedd urged the Reform MS to hurry up.

Heckling broke out in the Chamber as Ms O’Brien replied: “No”.

She eventually asked the minister if the Welsh Government would amend the allocation of housing and homelessness regulations to restrict eligibility and “give preference to British applicants”.

Ms O’Brien also asked the government to use its legal powers to force social landlords in Wales to “record and publish the nationality of applicants and tenants”.

Before Ms Gwenllian provided a response, the Deputy Llywydd intervened saying: “If I ask for a question, I do expect to hear a question. I don’t expect someone to go 45 seconds over time.”

Ms Ferguson became the Deputy Presiding Officer in May. Although she is a Plaid Cymru Member, her role as the Senedd’s Deputy Llywydd is strictly non-political.

Once elected, the Llywydd and Deputy Llywydd must remain entirely politically impartial at all times, giving up any party-political affiliations in the Chamber to focus solely on the fair running of the Senedd.

Ms O’Brien was not the only Senedd Member that day to be prompted to ask a question because they had run out of time.

Sharing a clip of the exchange to social media, The Reform MS said: “Uncovering the data which Plaid doesn’t want to talk about.

“Many councils don’t even record the nationality of who is living in social & council homes. Who are these thousands of people?

“While waiting lists increase for local families, data is swept under the carpet and when Plaid don’t like what I have to say, I am slammed for going over time.

“Odd, as I’ve seen many others go way over their slot without the same shut down.”

Wales is currently facing a severe social housing crisis, driven by a chronic shortage of homes as demand continues to outstrip supply.

The situation has been exacerbated by rising construction costs and delays in the planning system.

Statistics do not show that non-British nationals are being prioritised over Welsh people or that immigration is responsible for soaring housing waiting lists.

The Deputy Llywydd declined to comment.

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