Senedd
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The National Assembly for Wales (or NAW) (Welsh: Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru) is a devolved assembly (not a full legislature) with power to make regulations in Wales, and also is responsible for most UK government departments in Wales. It was formed under the Government of Wales Act 1998, by the Labour Party, after a referendum narrowly approved it.
Powers and status
The National Assembly consists of 60 members, 40 of which are elected to represent constituencies, with the other 20 being elected by the Additional Member System. Members use the title AM (Assembly Member) or, in Welsh, AC (Aelod y Cynulliad).
The Assembly has delegated most of its powers to a committe called the Welsh Assembly Government, led by First Minister.
The executive and civil servants are based in Cardiff's Cathays Park while the Assembly Members, the Assembly Parliamentary Service and Ministerial support staff are based in Cardiff Bay where a new £60 million debating chamber has been built by Richard Rogers.
The Assembly is not a legislature, it cannot pass its own primary legislation, nor can it raise its own taxes, as these powers remain with Westminster. This is largely because Wales has had the same legal system as England since 1536, when it was annexed by England (and therefore became part of England). Ireland and Scotland were never annexed by England, and so always retained a greater degree of autonomy. The Scottish Parliament and Northern Ireland Assembly have stronger powers.
The Assembly inherited the powers and budget of the Secretary of State for Wales and most of the functions of the Wales Office. It has power to vary laws passed by Westminster using secondary legislation.
Electoral system
Under the Additional Member System[1], 40 of the AMs are elected from single-member constituencies on a First Past the Post (more accurately termed single-member district plurality or SMDP) basis, the constituencies being equivalent to those used for the House of Commons. The remaining 20 AMs are elected from regional closed lists using an alternative party vote. There are five regions (Mid and West Wales, North Wales, South Wales Central, South Wales East and South Wales West), each of which returns four members, under the d'Hondt method.
To date there have been two elections to the Assembly, in 1999 and 2003. The 2003 election produced the first ever democratically elected legislature in the world in which 50 percent of the members were women.
History
It was established following a referendum on 18 September 1997. The Labour Government's proposals for devolution were passed by a majority of just 0.6% of the 50% of the Welsh electorate who took part. The endorsement came 18 years after Welsh voters defeated similar proposals by a majority of 4:1
In its 1997 White Paper "A Voice for Wales" the Labour Government argued the Assembly would be more democratically accountable than the Welsh Office, which was represented in the British Cabinet by a Secretary of State who often did not even represent a Welsh constituency at Westminster.
After three years of using their powers AMs complained the settlement was too limited and confusing. In July 2002 the Welsh Assembly Government established an independent commission, with Lord Richard (former leader of the House of Lords) as chair, into the powers and electoral arrangements of the National Assembly in order to ensure that it is able to operate in the best interests of the people of Wales. The Richard Commission reported in March 2004. It recommended that the National Assembly should have powers to legislate in certain areas, whilst others would remain the preserve of Westminster[2]. It also recommended changing the electoral system to the single transferable vote (STV) which can produce more proportional representation [3].
In the white paper Better Government for Wales[4] - published on 15 June 2005 - the UK Government rejected Richard's recommendation to change the electoral system, whilst proposing a half-way house between the status quo and the National Assembly having full Scottish Parliament-style legislative powers.
| Party | Seats | Current Assembly (elected in 2003) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 2003 | Now | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Labour | 28 | 30 | 29* | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Plaid Cymru | 17 | 12 | 12 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Conservative | 9 | 11 | 11 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Liberal Democrat | 6 | 6 | 6 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Forward Wales | N/A | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Independent Peter Law | N/A | N/A | 1* | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
* The current number of Labour Party AMs is 29, after Peter Law stood against the Labour candidate in Blaenau Gwent in the General Election 2005 and was automatically expelled from the party.
References
- ^ Electing the Welsh Assembly. Electoral Reform Society information regarding Additional member system elections. Retrieved 9 December 2005
- ^ The Richard Commission. Richard Commission Website, includes copy of Commission report. Retrieved 9 December 2005
- ^ Electoral Reform for Wales. Electoral Reform Society responce to rejection of Richard Commission recomendations. Retrieved 9 December 2005
- ^ Better Governance for Wales White Paper. Presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State for Wales in June 2005. Downloadable PDF. Retrieved 9 December 2005
See also
- Welsh Assembly Election 2003
- Welsh Assembly Election 1999
- UK topics
- Members of the National Assembly for Wales
- Government of Wales Act 1998
External links
- National Assembly for Wales (official WWW site)
- Welsh Politicians Including those of Welsh descent in other countries
- NAW: Constituencies and Electoral Regions (map of the constituencies showing current members)
- NAW: Who? - Elected Members (list of members by constituency)
- Government of Wales Act 1998