FURY AS £120M WELSH LABOUR PLAN TO EXPAND SENEDD IS SET TO BE APPROVED

Plans to boost the size of the Senedd by 60 per cent are due to be voted through today despite a furious backlash.

Legislation tabled by the Labour-run Welsh Government, as part of the co-operation agreement with Plaid Cymru, would see numbers rise from 60 to 96.

Elections would also take place every four years instead of every five years under the proposals, which are expected to get final approval this afternoon.

However, critics have pointed out that the £120million overhaul is equivalent to the House of Commons being expanded from 650 MPs to more than 2,000.

Welsh Secretary David TC Davies has said the move showed that the Labour administration has the wrong 'priorities'.

Separately, calls have surfaced in Scotland for a 'significant' increase in the number of MSPs.

Posting on social media to mark the 25th anniversary of devolution yesterday Mr Davies said: 'Wales desperately needs more teachers, nurses, doctors and dentists, not more politicians.'

Currently in Wales there are 40 constituencies electing a single representative by first-past-the-post and 20 additional members chosen proportionally from five regions.

If the Bill passes its final stages today there will be 16 enlarged constituencies, with six members elected in each area using the D'Hondt formula, which is currently used to elect the 20 additional members.

Instead of five-year terms, MSs will be elected for four-year terms and all candidates will have to live in Wales.

The maximum number of ministers appointed by the party forming the Government will be increased from 12 to 17, and there will be two deputy presiding officers instead of the current one.

If the changes are supported by the Senedd they will be adopted for the next set of elections in 2026.

Figures have suggested full implementation over the next eight years could cost £120million, although the true bill is uncertain.

Mr Davies posted on the X site: 'Today should be a reflection for the Labour Welsh Government to rethink their 'priorities'.

'Spending tens of millions on a 20mph default speed limit& forcing NHS to make over £60million cuts to then spend over £100million on creating more Senedd Members should not be priorities.'

Earlier this year, Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt voiced 'shock' at the plan.

She said an equivalent move for the UK Parliament on the same constituent-to-politician ratio would result in an increase from 650 MPs to 2,058.

'Just to put this in context, on the same constituent-to-politician ratio as the plan they are outlining in Wales, if that were transferred to the House of Commons this chamber would have to accommodate 2,058 Members of Parliament,' she said.

'That is Labour's blueprint for governing Britain I think.'

The Welsh Government had argued that Wales is the 'most under-represented country in the UK', even before the number of Welsh MPs are reduced from 40 to 32 under boundary reviews.

It insists the changes can 'create a modern Senedd better able to represent the people of Wales'.

Meanwhile, former Scottish deputy first minister Jim Wallace has said the number of MSPs at Holyrood 'needs to be looked at again'.

The former Scottish Liberal Democrat leader played a key role in determining the number of MSPs who would sit in the Scottish Parliament when it was established back in 1999, being involved in negotiations with Labour's George Robertson on the matter.

'George Robertson and I had a haggle about what the numbers would be,' he said.

He wanted 113, I wanted 145, and we got 129. It was meeting in the middle...

'I think now the Parliament requires significantly more, it has more responsibilities, not least for tax and social security.

'I think 129 needs to be looked at again.'

2024-05-08T11:09:13Z dg43tfdfdgfd