Part 1 National Assembly for Wales

The Assembly

1 The Assembly

(1) There is to be an Assembly for Wales to be known as the National Assembly for Wales or Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru (referred to in this Act as “the Assembly”).

(2) The Assembly is to consist of—

(a) one member for each Assembly constituency (referred to in this Act as “Assembly constituency members”), and

(b) members for each Assembly electoral region (referred to in this Act as “Assembly regional members”).

(3) Members of the Assembly (referred to in this Act as “Assembly members”) are to be returned in accordance with the provision made by and under this Act for—

(a) the holding of general elections of Assembly members (for the return of the entire Assembly), and

(b) the filling of vacancies in Assembly seats.

(4) The validity of any Assembly proceedings is not affected by any vacancy in its membership.

(5) In this Act “Assembly proceedings” means any proceedings of—

(a) the Assembly,

(b) committees of the Assembly, or

(c) sub-committees of such committees.

2 Assembly constituencies and electoral regions

(1) The Assembly constituencies are the parliamentary constituencies in Wales (as specified in the Parliamentary Constituencies and Assembly Electoral Regions (Wales) Order 2006 (S.I. 2006/1041)).

(2) There are five Assembly electoral regions.

(3) The Assembly electoral regions are as specified in the Parliamentary Constituencies and Assembly Electoral Regions (Wales) Order 2006.

(4) There are four seats for each Assembly electoral region.

(5) For provision about alterations in the Assembly electoral regions and in the allocation of seats to those regions see Schedule 1.

(6) Subsections (1), (3) and (4) are subject to any Order in Council under the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986 (c. 56), as that Act has effect as extended by that Schedule.

General elections

3 Ordinary general elections

(1) The poll at an ordinary general election is to be held on the first Thursday in May in the fourth calendar year following that in which the previous ordinary general election was held, unless provision is made for the day of the poll by an order under section 4.

(2) If the poll is to be held on the first Thursday in May, the Assembly—

(a) is dissolved by virtue of this section at the beginning of the minimum period which ends with that day, and

(b) must meet within the period of seven days beginning immediately after the day of the poll.

(3) In subsection (2) “the minimum period” means the period determined in accordance with an order under section 13.

(4) In calculating any period of days for the purposes of subsection (2)(b), the following days are to be disregarded—

(a) Saturday and Sunday,

(b) any day which is a bank holiday in Wales under the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971 (c. 80), and

(c) any day appointed for public thanksgiving or mourning.

4 Power to vary date of ordinary general election

(1) The Secretary of State may by order provide for the poll at an ordinary general election to be held on a day which is neither—

(a) more than one month earlier, nor

(b) more than one month later,

than the first Thursday in May.

(2) An order under this section must make provision for the Assembly—

(a) to be dissolved on a day specified in the order, and

(b) to meet within the period of seven days beginning immediately after the day of the poll.

(3) In calculating any period of days for the purposes of provision made by virtue of subsection (2)(b), the following days are to be disregarded—

(a) Saturday and Sunday,

(b) Good Friday,

(c) any day which is a bank holiday in Wales under the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971 (c. 80), and

(d) any day appointed for public thanksgiving or mourning.

(4) An order under this section may make provision for—

(a) any provision of, or made under, the Representation of the People Acts, or

(b) any other enactment relating to the election of Assembly members,

to have effect with such modifications or exceptions as the Secretary of State considers appropriate in connection with the alteration of the day of the poll.

(5) No order is to be made under this section unless the Secretary of State has consulted the Welsh Ministers about it.

(6) A statutory instrument containing an order under this section is subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

5 Extraordinary general elections

(1) The Secretary of State must propose a day for the holding of a poll at an extraordinary general election if subsection (2) or (3) applies.

(2) This subsection applies if—

(a) the Assembly resolves that it should be dissolved, and

(b) the resolution of the Assembly is passed on a vote in which the number of Assembly members voting in favour of it is not less than two-thirds of the total number of Assembly seats.

(3) This subsection applies if any period during which the Assembly is required under section 47 to nominate an Assembly member for appointment as the First Minister ends without such a nomination being made.

(4) If the Secretary of State proposes a day under subsection (1), Her Majesty may by Order in Council—

(a) dissolve the Assembly and require an extraordinary general election to be held,

(b) require the poll at the election to be held on the day proposed, and

(c) require the Assembly to meet within the period of seven days beginning immediately after the day of the poll.

(5) If a poll is held under this section within the period of six months ending with the day on which the poll at the next ordinary general election would be held (disregarding section 4), that ordinary general election is not to be held.

(6) But subsection (5) does not affect the year in which the subsequent ordinary general election is to be held.

(7) In calculating any period of days for the purposes of subsection (4)(c), the following days are to be disregarded—

(a) Saturday and Sunday,

(b) Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Good Friday,

(c) any day which is a bank holiday in Wales under the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971 (c. 80), and

(d) any day appointed for public thanksgiving or mourning.

6 Voting at general elections

(1) Each person entitled to vote at a general election in an Assembly constituency has two votes.

(2) One (referred to in this Act as a “constituency vote”) is a vote which may be given for a candidate to be the Assembly constituency member for the Assembly constituency.

(3) The other (referred to in this Act as an “electoral region vote”) is a vote which may be given for—

(a) a registered political party which has submitted a list of candidates to be Assembly regional members for the Assembly electoral region in which the Assembly constituency is included, or

(b) an individual who is a candidate to be an Assembly regional member for that Assembly electoral region.

(4) The Assembly constituency member for the Assembly constituency is to be returned under the simple majority system.

(5) The Assembly regional members for the Assembly electoral region are to be returned under the additional member system of proportional representation provided for in this Part.

(6) In this Act “registered political party” means a party registered under Part 2 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (c. 41).

7 Candidates at general elections

(1) At a general election a person may not be a candidate to be the Assembly constituency member for more than one Assembly constituency.

(2) Any registered political party may submit a list of candidates for return as Assembly regional members for a particular Assembly electoral region at a general election.

(3) The list must be submitted to the regional returning officer.

(4) The list must not include more than twelve persons (but may include only one).

(5) The list must not include a person—

(a) who is included on any other list submitted for the Assembly electoral region or any list submitted for another Assembly electoral region,

(b) who is an individual candidate to be an Assembly regional member for the Assembly electoral region or another Assembly electoral region, or

(c) who is a candidate to be the Assembly constituency member for an Assembly constituency.

(6) A person may not be an individual candidate to be an Assembly regional member for the Assembly electoral region if that person is—

(a) included on a list submitted by a registered political party for the Assembly electoral region or another Assembly electoral region,

(b) an individual candidate to be an Assembly regional member for another Assembly electoral region, or

(c) a candidate to be the Assembly constituency member for an Assembly constituency.

(7) In this Act “regional returning officer”, in relation to an Assembly electoral region, means the person designated as the regional returning officer for the Assembly electoral region in accordance with an order under section 13.

8 Calculation of electoral region figures

(1) This section and section 9 are about the return of Assembly regional members for an electoral region at a general election.

(2) The person who is to be returned as the Assembly constituency member for each Assembly constituency in the Assembly electoral region is to be determined before it is determined who are to be returned as the Assembly regional members for the Assembly electoral region.

(3) For each registered political party by which a list of candidates has been submitted for the Assembly electoral region—

(a) there is to be added together the number of electoral region votes given for the party in the Assembly constituencies included in the Assembly electoral region, and

(b) the number arrived at under paragraph (a) is then to be divided by the aggregate of one and the number of candidates of the party returned as Assembly constituency members for any of those Assembly constituencies.

(4) For each individual candidate to be an Assembly regional member for the Assembly electoral region there is to be added together the number of electoral region votes given for the candidate in the Assembly constituencies included in the Assembly electoral region.

(5) The number arrived at—

(a) in the case of a registered political party, under subsection (3)(b), or

(b) in the case of an individual candidate, under subsection (4),

is referred to in this Act as the electoral region figure for that party or individual candidate.

9 Allocation of seats to electoral region members

(1) The first seat for the Assembly electoral region is to be allocated to the party or individual candidate with the highest electoral region figure.

(2) The second and subsequent seats for the Assembly electoral region are to be allocated to the party or individual candidate with the highest electoral region figure after any recalculation required by subsection (3) has been carried out.

(3) This subsection requires a recalculation under paragraph (b) of section 8(3) in relation to a party—

(a) for the first application of subsection (2), if the application of subsection (1) resulted in the allocation of an Assembly seat to the party, or

(b) for any subsequent application of subsection (2), if the previous application of that subsection did so,

and a recalculation is to be carried out after adding one to the aggregate mentioned in that paragraph.

(4) An individual candidate already returned as an Assembly regional member is to be disregarded.

(5) Seats for the Assembly electoral region which are allocated to a party are to be filled by the persons on the party’s list in the order in which they appear on the list.

(6) Once a party’s list has been exhausted by the return of persons included on it as Assembly regional members by the previous application of subsection (1) or (2), the party is to be disregarded.

(7) If (on the application of subsection (1) or any application of subsection (2)) the highest electoral region figure is the electoral region figure of two or more parties or individual candidates, the subsection applies to each of them.

(8) However, if subsection (7) would mean that more than the full number of seats for the Assembly electoral region were allocated, subsection (1) or (2) does not apply until—

(a) a recalculation has been carried out under section 8(3)(b) after adding one to the number of votes given for each party with that electoral region figure, and

(b) one has been added to the number of votes given for each individual candidate with that electoral region figure.

(9) If, after that, the highest electoral region figure is still the electoral region figure of two or more parties or individual candidates, the regional returning officer must decide between them by lots.

Vacancies

10 Constituency vacancies

(1) This section applies if the seat of an Assembly constituency member returned for an Assembly constituency is vacant.

(2) Subject to subsection (7), an election must be held in the Assembly constituency to fill the vacancy.

(3) At the election, each person entitled to vote only has a constituency vote; and the Assembly constituency member for the Assembly constituency is to be returned under the simple majority system.

(4) The date of the poll at the election must be fixed by the Presiding Officer.

(5) The date must fall within the period of three months beginning with the occurrence of the vacancy.

(6) But if the vacancy does not come to the Presiding Officer’s notice within the period of one month beginning with its occurrence, the date must fall within the period of three months beginning when it does come to the Presiding Officer’s notice.

(7) The election must not be held if it appears to the Presiding Officer that the latest date which may be fixed for the poll would fall within the period of three months ending with the day on which the poll at the next ordinary general election would be held (disregarding section 4).

(8) The standing orders must make provision for determining the date on which a vacancy occurs for the purposes of this section.

(9) A person may not be a candidate in an election to fill a vacancy if the person is—

(a) an Assembly member, or

(b) a candidate in another such election.

11 Electoral region vacancies

(1) This section applies if the seat of an Assembly regional member returned for an Assembly electoral region is vacant.

(2) If the Assembly regional member was returned (under section 9 or this section) from the list of a registered political party, the regional returning officer must notify to the Presiding Officer the name of the person who is to fill the vacancy.

(3) A person’s name may only be so notified if the person—

(a) is included on the list submitted by the registered political party for the last general election,

(b) is willing to serve as an Assembly regional member for the Assembly electoral region, and

(c) is not a person to whom subsection (4) applies.

(4) This subsection applies to a person if—

(a) the person is not a member of the registered political party, and

(b) the registered political party gives notice to the regional returning officer that the person’s name is not to be notified to the Presiding Officer as the name of the person who is to fill the vacancy.

(5) But if there is more than one person who satisfies the conditions in subsection (3), the regional returning officer may only notify the name of whichever of them was the higher, or the highest, on that list.

(6) A person whose name is notified under subsection (2) is to be treated as having been declared to be returned as an Assembly regional member for the Assembly electoral region on the day on which notification of the person’s name is received by the Presiding Officer.

(7) The seat remains vacant until the next general election—

(a) if the Assembly regional member was returned as an individual candidate, or

(b) if that Assembly regional member was returned from the list of a registered political party but there is no-one who satisfies the conditions in subsection (3).

(8) For the purposes of this section, a person included on the list submitted by a registered political party for the last general election who—

(a) was returned as an Assembly regional member under section 9 at that election (even if the return was void),

(b) has subsequently been a candidate in an election held under section 10 (whether or not returned), or

(c) has subsequently been returned under this section (even if the return was void),

is treated on and after the return of the person, or of the successful candidate at the election, as not having been included on the list.

Franchise and conduct of elections

12 Entitlement to vote

(1) The persons entitled to vote at an election of Assembly members (or of an Assembly member) in an Assembly constituency are those who on the day of the poll—

(a) would be entitled to vote as electors at a local government election in an electoral area wholly or partly included in the Assembly constituency, and

(b) are registered in the register of local government electors at an address within the Assembly constituency.

(2) But a person is not entitled as an elector—

(a) to cast more than one constituency vote, or more than one electoral region vote, in the same Assembly constituency at any general election,

(b) to vote in more than one Assembly constituency at any general election, or

(c) to cast more than one vote in any election held under section 10.

13 Power to make provision about elections etc.

(1) The Secretary of State may by order make provision as to—

(a) the conduct of elections for the return of Assembly members,

(b) the questioning of an election for the return of Assembly members and the consequences of irregularities, and

(c) the return of an Assembly member otherwise than at an election.

(2) The provision which may be made under subsection (1)(a) includes, in particular, provision—

(a) about the registration of electors,

(b) for disregarding alterations in a register of electors,

(c) about the limitation of the election expenses of candidates (and the creation of criminal offences in connection with the limitation of such expenses),

(d) for the combination of polls at elections for the return of Assembly members and other elections, and

(e) for modifying the operation of sections 6 and 8(2) in a case where the poll at an election for the return of the Assembly constituency member for an Assembly constituency is abandoned (or notice of it is countermanded).

(3) The provision that may be made under subsection (1)(c) includes, in particular, provision making modifications to section 11(3) to (5).

(4) An order under this section may—

(a) apply or incorporate, with or without modifications or exceptions, any provision of or made under the election enactments,

(b) modify any form contained in, or in regulations or rules made under, the Representation of the People Acts so far as may be necessary to enable it to be used both for the original purpose and in relation to elections for the return of Assembly members, and

(c) so far as may be necessary in consequence of any provision made by this Act or an order under this section, make modifications of any provision made by or under any enactment relating to the registration of parliamentary electors or local government electors.

(5) In subsection (4)(a) “the election enactments” means—

(a) the Representation of the People Acts,

(b) the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (c. 41),

(c) the European Parliamentary Elections Act 2002 (c. 24), and

(d) any other enactments relating to parliamentary elections, European Parliamentary elections or local government elections.

(6) No return of an Assembly member at an election may be questioned except by an election petition under the provisions of Part 3 of the Representation of the People Act 1983 (c. 2) as applied by or incorporated in an order under this section.

(7) No order is to be made under this section unless a draft of the statutory instrument containing it has been laid before, and approved by a resolution of, each House of Parliament.

Duration of membership

14 Term of office of Assembly members

The term of office of an Assembly member—

(a) begins when the Assembly member is declared to be returned, and

(b) ends with the dissolution of the Assembly.

15 Resignation of members

An Assembly member may at any time resign by giving notice in writing to the Presiding Officer.

Disqualification

16 Disqualification from being Assembly member

(1) A person is disqualified from being an Assembly member if that person—

(a) is disqualified from being a member of the House of Commons under paragraphs (a) to (e) of section 1(1) of the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975 (c. 24) (judges, civil servants, members of the armed forces, members of police forces and members of foreign legislatures),

(b) holds any of the offices for the time being designated by Order in Council as offices disqualifying persons from being Assembly members,

(c) holds the office of Auditor General,

(d) holds the office of Public Services Ombudsman for Wales, or

(e) is employed as a member of the staff of the Assembly.

(2) Subject to section 17(1) and (2), a person is also disqualified from being an Assembly member if that person is disqualified otherwise than under the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975 (c. 24) (either generally or in relation to a particular constituency) from being a member of the House of Commons or from sitting and voting in it.

(3) For the purposes of subsection (2) the references to the Republic of Ireland in section 1 of the Representation of the People Act 1981 (c. 34) (disqualification of offenders detained in, or unlawfully at large from detention in, the British Islands or the Republic of Ireland) are to be treated as references to any member State (other than the United Kingdom).

(4) A person who holds office as lord-lieutenant, lieutenant or high sheriff of any area in Wales is disqualified from being an Assembly member for any Assembly constituency or Assembly electoral region wholly or partly included in that area.

(5) An Order in Council under paragraph (b) of subsection (1)—

(a) may designate particular offices or offices of any description, and

(b) may designate an office by reference to any characteristic of a person holding it,

and in that paragraph and this subsection “office” includes any post or employment.

(6) No recommendation is to be made to Her Majesty in Council to make an Order in Council under subsection (1)(b) unless a draft of the statutory instrument containing the Order in Council has been laid before, and approved by a resolution of, the Assembly.

17 Exceptions and relief from disqualification

(1) A person is not disqualified from being an Assembly member merely because that person is—

(a) a peer (whether of the United Kingdom, Great Britain, England or Scotland), or

(b) a Lord Spiritual.

(2) A citizen of the European Union who is resident in the United Kingdom is not disqualified from being an Assembly member merely because of section 3 of the Act of Settlement (1700 c. 2) (disqualification of certain persons born outside United Kingdom).

(3) The Assembly may resolve that the disqualification of any person who was, or is alleged to have been, disqualified from being an Assembly member on a ground within section 16(1) or (4) is to be disregarded if it appears to the Assembly—

(a) that the ground has been removed, and

(b) that it is proper so to resolve.

(4) A resolution under subsection (3) does not—

(a) affect any proceedings under Part 3 of the Representation of the People Act 1983 (c. 2) as applied by or incorporated in an order under section 13, or

(b) enable the Assembly to disregard any disqualification which has been established in such proceedings or in proceedings under section 19.

18 Effect of disqualification

(1) If a person who is disqualified from being an Assembly member is returned as an Assembly member, the person’s return is void and the person’s seat is vacant.

(2) If a person who is disqualified from being an Assembly member for a particular Assembly constituency or Assembly electoral region is returned as an Assembly member for that Assembly constituency or Assembly electoral region, the person’s return is void and the person’s seat is vacant.

(3) If a person who is an Assembly member becomes disqualified—

(a) from being an Assembly member, or

(b) from being an Assembly member for the Assembly constituency or Assembly electoral region for which the person is sitting,

the person ceases to be an Assembly member (so that the person’s seat is vacant).

(4) Subsections (1) to (3) have effect subject to any resolution of the Assembly under section 17(3).

(5) In addition, subsection (3) has effect subject to—

(a) section 141 of the Mental Health Act 1983 (c. 20) (mental illness), and

(b) section 427 of the Insolvency Act 1986 (c. 45) (bankruptcy etc.).

(6) If, in consequence of a provision mentioned in subsection (5), the seat of a person who is disqualified from being an Assembly member is not vacant, the person does not cease to be an Assembly member until the person’s seat becomes vacant.

(7)