Welsh Conservative broke rules when she asked staff to campaign on Senedd time

Emily Price

A Welsh Conservative shadow cabinet member broke the Welsh parliament’s rules when she asked her staff to campaign for her party on Senedd time, a new report has concluded.

The Senedd’s watchdog launched a formal probe after it was alleged that Aberconwy MS Janet Finch-Saunders was attempting to get her support staff to use a Tory telephone canvassing system to engage with voters during their work time.

The complaint had been made by the Chief Executive and Clerk of the Senedd, Manon Antoniazzi.

She is responsible for providing staff, property, and services to MSs while advising on procedural matters and ensuring the efficient operation of the Senedd.

As Chief Executive, Antoniazzi has a statutory duty to refer a member to the Standards Commissioner if it appears they failed to comply with the Senedd’s code of conduct.

Three of Finch-Saunders support staff – who have since left their roles – were quizzed by Standard’s Commissioner Douglas Bain as part of his probe.

The watchdog later extended the scope of his investigation when he received a separate complaint that the shadow minister for climate change was bullying her support staff.

The watchdog concluded that there was “no doubt” that between 12 November 2024 and August 2025, a member of the Tory MS’s support staff had used ICT equipment and an email account provided by the Senedd Commission for party political work on behalf of the Welsh Conservatives.

Bain stated: “The evidence for that is to be found in the 52 emails and the testimony of [support staff] and the member herself.

“These emails were about party political matters and almost all of them were either sent by the member, sent to the member or copied to her.”

The Senedd’s Standard Committee noted that Finch-Saunders had later raised the improper use of Senedd resources with the staff member via email on 23 June 2025.

However despite this, further emails were sent between Finch-Saunders and her support staff “of a party political nature”.

The Standards Commissioner also found that Finch-Saunders’ constituency office had been used to store party political materials such as copies of Welsh Conservative survey forms.

In a report published on Wednesday (March 11) the Senedd Standards Committee agreed that Finch-Saunders had breached code of conduct rules in place to ensure staff remain politically impartial in their official roles.

Public funds

Senedd staff are paid for by the Senedd Commission using public funds that are specifically provided to help MSs perform their official duties – such as helping constituents or researching new laws.

MSs are strictly prohibited from using Senedd Commission resources – including staff time – for party-political campaigning, particularly during election periods.

This is because using tax-payers cash to help a specific political party win an election is considered a misuse of public money.

In Bain’s report, the watchdog said that Finch-Saunders had made “unsubstantiated” claims that her staff members had “conspired” to make allegations against her.

In her evidence, Finch-Saunders also claimed she had been “ridiculed” by her staff for not being a Welsh speaker.

Bain concluded that the Tory MS’s “repeated denials of ever having misused Senedd resources was manifestly untrue”.

On the separate bullying complaint, the Senedd’s watchdog concluded that Finch-Saunders expected high standards from her staff and had made numerous demands on their time.

In a partially redacted section of his report, Bain stated: “[…] described the Member as a bully in […] email to MBS of 29 September.

“In […] evidence […] described her management style as horrendous and said that one of the reasons […] resigned was because she was so difficult and so rude.

” […] evidence was, however, unspecific and the one example […] gave could not, in my opinion, even if proved amount to bullying.”

‘Direct’

In her evidence, Finch-Saunders acknowledged that she was “direct” in her interactions with staff, but denied making unreasonable demands or behaving in a rude manner.

The Standards Commissioner concluded that, on the evidence available, the conduct described did not meet the threshold for a breach of the Senedd’s rules relating to bullying.

A debate will take place in the Senedd next week on whether Finch-Saunders will be formally censured.

The public shaming mechanism is non-binding and considered less severe than a suspension.

Janet Finch-Saunders was invited to comment.