, Reform Bill Committee
Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill: Evidence session with the Welsh Language Commissioner
Thank you very much. Certainly, in reading your written evidence, you were quite critical of the status and the use of the Welsh language within the internal Senedd administration, and, as you've referred to, you also mentioned the fact that you were…
, Reform Bill Committee
Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill: Evidence session on the electoral and boundary reform experience in Scotland
Thank you.
, Reform Bill Committee
Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill: Evidence session on the electoral and boundary reform experience in Scotland
Thank you very much. I don't know if you have any additional comments in terms of any experience of managing elections with multiple franchises, boundaries and electoral systems. I don't know if you have any further comments that you'd like to make on that.
, Reform Bill Committee
Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill: Evidence session on the electoral and boundary reform experience in Scotland
And you think that works effectively in Scotland? Do you think there's good practice that we could follow suit? Because it's unclear from the proposed legislation, perhaps, here at the moment, in terms of who would lead on that work. So, just trying to see if…
, Reform Bill Committee
Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill: Evidence session on the electoral and boundary reform experience in Scotland
Thank you very much. Clearly, another element of that is communicating change to the public, because of what you've described with the various different systems, but also other changes. So, who in Scotland is responsible for promoting an understanding of…
, Reform Bill Committee
Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill: Evidence session on the electoral and boundary reform experience in Scotland
Thank you very much. If I could move on to electoral arrangements. And I think one of the elements that would be of interest to us as a committee is the Scottish experience of implementing new electoral arrangements, for example, the introduction of STV for…
, Reform Bill Committee
Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill: Evidence session on the electoral and boundary reform experience in Scotland
Yes.
, Reform Bill Committee
Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill: Evidence session on the electoral and boundary reform experience in Scotland
Thank you. If I can ask Professor Henderson—and I'm looking now at the boundary commission again—do you agree that it would be possible to expand the section of the Bill that gives directions to the Welsh boundary commission to make it a requirement to…
, Reform Bill Committee
Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill: Evidence session on the electoral and boundary reform experience in Scotland
Diolch. I'll be speaking in Welsh.
, Reform Bill Committee
Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill: Evidence session with electoral reform organisations
Can I just follow up just on the point that you mentioned the research that you'd undertaken in 2017? Obviously, the world changed dramatically in terms of how we work following the pandemic, and one of the things that have been maintained has been hybrid…
, Reform Bill Committee
Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill: Evidence session with electoral reform organisations
That's fine.
, Reform Bill Committee
Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill: Evidence session with electoral reform organisations
Yes. Can I just ask, in terms of the potential system of recall, if you have got any views on that and how it might work within the proposed closed list PR system?
, Reform Bill Committee
Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill: Evidence session with electoral reform organisations
Diolch.
, Reform Bill Committee
Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill: Evidence session with electoral reform organisations
As we have moved towards boundary reviews, could I just ask you whether you have any views on the proposal in the Bill that full boundary reviews will need to determine Senedd constituencies between 90 per cent and 110 per cent of the electoral quota? So…
, Reform Bill Committee
Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill: Evidence session with electoral reform organisations
Thank you. In terms of the public's understanding of the changes, you will be aware that there is reference to ensuring that there is a healthy democracy in Wales. Do you think that that should be promoted to the face of the Bill, and do you have any view as…
, Reform Bill Committee
Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill: Evidence session with electoral reform organisations
Thank you very much. If I could follow up on that point, because in the ERS evidence, you also refer to Sweden starting with a closed list system and then shifting to a flexible system from 1998. Do you therefore see that we could smoothly move through the…
, Reform Bill Committee
Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill: Evidence session with electoral reform organisations
Thank you very much and good morning. I want to ask, first, if we could have your views on the closed list proportional representation system proposed by the Bill for Senedd elections from 2026 onwards. If I could come to Jess first.
, Reform Bill Committee
Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill: Evidence session with electoral systems academics
Diolch.
, Reform Bill Committee
Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill: Evidence session with electoral systems academics
Diolch yn fawr.
, Reform Bill Committee
Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill: Evidence session with electoral systems academics
One of the challenges that I posed at that time was in terms of keeping areas together. One of the things we've seen in changes in Westminster constituencies is there are some pretty odd pairings because of those changes. So, in terms of what we're looking at…
, Reform Bill Committee
Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill: Evidence session with electoral systems academics
Thank you very much. If I could move, therefore, to boundary reviews. Do you have any views on the proposals to introduce boundary reviews for Senedd constituencies? If we could go to Dr Larner first.
, Reform Bill Committee
Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill: Evidence session with electoral systems academics
Okay. Dr Larner.
, Reform Bill Committee
Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill: Evidence session with electoral systems academics
If I could just move on to the issue of recall, do you have a view on how a recall system for Members of the Senedd could operate within the closed list PR system? Who'd like to go first?
, Reform Bill Committee
Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill: Evidence session with electoral systems academics
Dr Larner.
, Reform Bill Committee
Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill: Evidence session with electoral systems academics
If I could follow up on that, then, please. Now, if we then look at the size of the constituencies in the Bill, and the idea of having six Members for each, do you think that this will have an impact on the electoral success of smaller parties in Senedd…
