Tories say they ‘really do’ want to reverse the increase in Senedd Members

Martin Shipton

The Welsh Conservatives insist they are serious in claiming they would seek to reverse the increase in the number of MSs in the unlikely event that they win the Senedd election next May.

Legislation was passed in 2024 to increase the number of MSs from 60 to 96.

At the same time, the electoral system was changed so that all members will be elected by the closed list system of proportional representation.

According to supporters of the moves, the increase in Senedd Members was justified because it would result in improved scrutiny of the Welsh Government and its ministers.

It has also been argued that the Senedd had a low number of members in comparison with the Scottish Parliament, which has 129 MSPs, and the Northern Ireland Assembly, which has 90 MLAs.

Welsh Conservatives have criticised the increase in numbers on the grounds of cost. In September it was announced that the Senedd’s budget would increase by almost £19m because of the extra numbers of MSs.

The Senedd Commission’s spending plans for 2026-27 include £12.7m to cover the salaries and costs associated with the extra 36 MSs and their staff, contributing to a 21% total rise from £83.8m in 2025-26 to £102.7m in 2026-27.

Presiding Officer Elin Jones has also confirmed that the cost of adapting the Senedd debating chamber so it can accommodate the extra politicians had increased by 30%. A Freedom of Information response published in May estimated it would cost £3.25m, but Ms Jones told the Senedd the cost to the taxpayer was now set to be £4.22m.

“This cost will be fully funded from the Senedd reform budget for this current year,” she said.

In terms of the Welsh Government’s overall budget of £27.6bn, the cost of the extra members is minuscule.

Nevertheless, former Welsh Conservative Senedd group leader Andrew RT Davies barely lets a day go by without complaining about the increase in MSs, suggesting that the money should instead be spent on the NHS and other public services.

However, he goes further and demands that the increase should be reversed.

Unrealistic

We put it to a Welsh Conservative group spokesperson that reversing the increase was unrealistic, given that the Senedd reform law had been passed and that spending was already taking place on renovations to the Senedd to increase the capacity of its debating chamber.

We said that while opposing the change had been an arguable position, it was unrealistic to argue for the increase in numbers to be reversed.

The Tory group spokesperson accepted that any further change would require a two-thirds majority vote, which , we said, was highly unlikely to be achieved.

The spokesperson added: “We would try to persuade others that change was needed.”

When we suggested that reversing the change would cost money in terms of requiring a re-adaptation of the chamber, the spokesperson said: “A lot of money was wasted in doing the physical changes and some IT equipment was thrown out. If we had to change the IT equipment, we’d recycle it.”

We raised the issue of the expansion of the House of Lords, which Andrew RT Davies hasn’t criticised, possibly because he fancies a peerage himself.

House of Lords

Since 2010, hundreds of new life peers have been created for the House of Lords, with major waves under David Cameron (around 245), Boris Johnson (87+), Theresa May (43), and Rishi Sunak (51), plus recent additions by Keir Starmer (25+), totalling well over 400 new appointments, predominantly life peers, to support government majorities or for honours lists, significantly expanding the chamber. Peers may claim a daily attendance allowance of £371.

The spokesperson said: “We do not have a group policy on this.”