Government of Wales Bill

House of Commons

Session 2005 - 06
Internet Publications
Other Bills before Parliament

Government of Wales Bill

Government of Wales Bill
Part 1 — National Assembly for Wales
1

A
Bill
To
Make provision about the government of Wales.
Be it enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and
consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present
Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
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
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for Wales or Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru (“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
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“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
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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—
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(a)
the Assembly,
(b)
committees of the Assembly, or
(c)
sub-committees of such committees.

Bill 100 54/1

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2
Assembly constituencies and electoral regions
(1)
The Assembly constituencies are the parliamentary constituencies in Wales.
(2)
There are five Assembly electoral regions.
(3)
The Assembly electoral regions are the areas which were the European
Parliamentary constituencies in Wales provided for by the European
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Parliamentary Constituencies (Wales) Order 1994 (S.I. 1994/428).
(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
10
Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986 (c. 56), as that Act has effect as extended
by that Schedule.
General elections
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Ordinary general elections
(1)
The poll at an ordinary general election is to be held on the first Thursday in
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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
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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.
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(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
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(c)
any day appointed for public thanksgiving or mourning.
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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
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(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
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the day of the poll.

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

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(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.
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Voting at general elections
(1)
Each person entitled to vote at a general election in an Assembly constituency
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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
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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
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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
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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).
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Candidates at general elections
(1)
At a general election a person may not be a candidate to be the Assembly
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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.
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(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
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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—
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(a)
included on a list submitted by a registered political party for the
Assembly electoral region or another Assembly electoral region,

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(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
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region, means the person designated as the regional returning officer for the
Assembly electoral region in accordance with an order under section 13.
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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.
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(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
15
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
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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
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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),
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is referred to in this Act as the electoral region figure for that party or
individual candidate.
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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.
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(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—
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(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,

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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
5
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.
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(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
15
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
20
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
25
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.
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(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
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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.
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(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

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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
5
is—
(a)
an Assembly member, or
(b)
a candidate in another such election.
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Electoral region vacancies
(1)
This section applies if the seat of an Assembly regional member returned for an
10
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—
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(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.
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(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.
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(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
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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
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(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—
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(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