Gething wants recall system for Senedd from 2026

Voters currently cannot remove politicians breaking the rules from the Senedd

Voters should have a chance to throw misbehaving politicians out of the Senedd after the next election in 2026, the first minister has said.

Vaughan Gething said he hopes the Senedd will pass a law that could cost members their seats if they break the rules.

It follows debates about how the Welsh Parliament can copy Westminster's recall system.

Mr Gething’s comments set a timetable to get the legislation ready in two years.

Rule-breaking MPs can face by-elections if enough of their constituents sign a petition in favour.

Proposals to recall MSs were made in recent debates on expanding the size of the Senedd, but they were voted down by the Welsh government.

Instead, the cross-party standards committee is looking at how such a system could work.

One complication is that, under the new election system, all Senedd members (MSs) will be elected from lists of candidates with no by-elections.

At question time in the Senedd, Conservative MS Tom Giffard said there was cross-party support for recall and asked for the legislation to be passed before the next Senedd starts in 2026.

Mr Gething said: “It may well not be government legislation that delivers a change, but we are committed to work constructively with all parties to try to have this issue resolved before the next Senedd election, so it is in place so people understand the measures that would bite if members fell significantly below the standards of conduct that we all should expect of each other.”

He also endorsed a call from Plaid Cymru’s Adam Price who has proposed a law banning MSs from lying.

At the next election, the size of the Senedd will grow from 60 to 96 members.