, Reform Bill Committee
Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill: Ministerial evidence session
Because I think the supermajority goes to the Bill and to the empowerment of the change. The actual implementation of the change within the Bill is one that will be a simple majority. But it's a matter for the Senedd as to how they want that to happen. If it…
, Reform Bill Committee
Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill: Ministerial evidence session
The first thing is that the five is what is built in; the seven only can occur with the consent of the Senedd. So, there would have to be an approval of that by the Senedd itself. But I think, pro rata, with a Senedd of 96 people, Government has also got to…
, Reform Bill Committee
Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill: Ministerial evidence session
Because I think the additional responsibilities that are there mean we need a more enhanced, skilled, expertised Government itself. I'll give you one example. One area, for example, from the Thomas commission, was a recommendation that there should be a…
, Reform Bill Committee
Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill: Ministerial evidence session
I think we have to look back to, firstly, I think, our own personal experiences in this Senedd—I've been here now for 12 and a half years—also familiarity with all the considerations that have been given by a whole variety of commissions—the Richards…
, Reform Bill Committee
Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill: Ministerial evidence session
I will do; I'll ask my officials to introduce themselves.
, Plenary
Statement by the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution: The Elections and Elected Bodies (Wales) Bill
Thank you. Automatic registration is not automatic voting; it doesn't mean that people have any compulsory obligation. There are many things that people are registered for. Being registered with a GP doesn't mean you have to go to your GP. These are choices…
, Plenary
Statement by the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution: The Elections and Elected Bodies (Wales) Bill
Those are all valid points, and I think they're all points that, no doubt, will be raised during the scrutiny process. In terms of electronic voting, of course, this is, really, the enabling legislation, because it's about the digitisation of the electoral…
, Plenary
Statement by the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution: The Elections and Elected Bodies (Wales) Bill
The secrecy of votes is fundamental. You are right. One of the things that we have learned as we have gone through this process, of course, is that there are increasing numbers of devices and techniques—many involving technology and so on—that make it easier…
, Plenary
Statement by the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution: The Elections and Elected Bodies (Wales) Bill
Thank you. You raise a number of important points. Can I just say to you, and indeed to other Members of the opposition parties, that I’m more than happy to do technical briefings or meetings on this Bill, et cetera, as it develops? It’s something that…
, Plenary
Statement by the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution: The Elections and Elected Bodies (Wales) Bill
Okay. Firstly, thank you for those earlier comments, which I recognise. I suppose the first thing to say is that these changes are for 2026, so between now and then—certainly next year—we're likely to have a general election, and so on. So, these have no…
, Plenary
Statement by the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution: The Elections and Elected Bodies (Wales) Bill
Thank you for your contribution. Just taking that last point, because it follows on from, I think, the last comments I made to the previous speaker, there's been a lot of thought given to the issues around online digital voting—how it might work, what would…
, Plenary
Statement by the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution: The Elections and Elected Bodies (Wales) Bill
Can I thank you for those comments? Can I just say? One thing I've tried in every speech I've made on this, or discussion on this, is to establish amongst the various well-being factors we have the issue of democratic health. Because I think it's something…
, Plenary
Statement by the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution: The Elections and Elected Bodies (Wales) Bill
That, I think, is what we want to address in this Bill, and, bearing in mind that our electoral system is fairly antiquated, fairly archaic, paper based at a time when we have so much technology, and so many elections that take place in so many formats are…
, Plenary
Statement by the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution: The Elections and Elected Bodies (Wales) Bill
Can I thank you firstly for, I think, supporting what I think we all recognise as the need to modernise and improve many aspects of our electoral system? And we all want to see greater diversity, greater participation, in many ways. Perhaps I'll start with…
, Plenary
Statement by the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution: The Elections and Elected Bodies (Wales) Bill
Llywydd, the Bill takes forward the White Paper measures I committed to implementing in response to our consultation. At the heart of the Bill lie our six principles of electoral reform: equity, accessibility, participation, improved citizen experience…
, Plenary
Statement by the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution: The Elections and Elected Bodies (Wales) Bill
Thank you, Llywydd. Yesterday, the Elections and Elected Bodies (Wales) Bill and explanatory memorandum were laid before the Senedd, the next building block in creating a modern twenty-first century Welsh electoral system. The Bill builds on our earlier…
, Plenary
Statement by the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution: The Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill
Well, on that last point, we obviously want the actual costs of making these changes to be as low as possible, but we also want to ensure, through the better governance, that we do produce better results, better management of the public resources that are…
, Plenary
Statement by the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution: The Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill
Thank you. It is the time to take this important step, but can I just remind the Member that this isn't a Government Bill in that sense? The Government has brought this forward, but this is legislation that emanates from the Senedd, and quite rightly so. It…
, Plenary
Statement by the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution: The Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill
Thank you. You make some very good points. I was particularly impressed with the quote from Roosevelt, who made so many important contributions to our understanding of democracy, the rule of law and so on. You said that she said that 'Democracy cannot be…
, Plenary
Statement by the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution: The Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill
I thank the Member for the comments and for the question. Can I also commend her? She has consistently raised the issue of the particular type of voting system. I think the reality is that the compromise is what is necessary to get a two-thirds majority to…
, Plenary
Statement by the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution: The Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill
I thank the Member for the comments. Can I just say that you did lose me on the numbers? I'm absolutely certain you were correct in your numbers, and I totally agree with everything that you have actually said. I'm sure the additional points are ones that…
, Plenary
Statement by the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution: The Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill
Well, I agree with most of the comments of the Member. I think we are all committed to improving governance and democracy, and it isn't something that gets frozen in time, although our numbers and our size have been frozen in time. It is something you always…
, Plenary
Statement by the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution: The Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill
Listen now, I thank the Member for those particular comments. Can I just comment that the Member may finish at 6 o'clock, but I can assure him that I won't be finishing at 6 o'clock? And I think most of the people here won't be finishing at 6 o'clock. So…
, Plenary
Statement by the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution: The Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill
I thank the Member for those comments. Of course, the whole purpose of devolution is about the decentralisation of power. It is about bringing power closer to people, and it is a process. It's a process that has been ongoing over the past 25 years, and it is…
, Plenary
Statement by the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution: The Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill
Can I thank the Member for those comments? And also, within this context, of course, there's a lot else going on at the moment. We have, of course, our own independent commission that will be producing its report on broader constitutional reform issues and…
