Senedd Reform

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:34 pm on 7 June 2022.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 1:34, 7 June 2022

Well, Llywydd, every nine months, the Prime Minister appoints more people to the House of Lords than we propose adding to the membership of the Senedd—every nine months. Where's the referendum on that, I wonder? 

Now, I agree entirely with what my colleague Alun Davies has said. You cannot find an independent report into the representation the people in Wales need in order to take the important decisions that are made here on their behalf that believes that 60 Members is a sufficient quantum to discharge those responsibilities. And that goes back to Kilbrandon and it goes back further than Kilbrandon, even to the 1950s and reports on what was then called the council for Wales. We have this opportunity; it doesn't come often. It's taken 20 years since the Richard review in order to find a moment where reform is possible. We must grasp it now, and those parties in this place who have an investment in making sure that Welsh democracy is able to deliver for people in Wales will, I think, gather round these proposals and want to see them succeed.