Anonymise politicians' relatives working in Senedd, report says

The names of people related to politicians working in the Senedd should be kept secret from the public, the institution's internal standards body has said.

Although Members of the Senedd (MSs) are banned from employing their own family, they can be employed by colleagues, as long as it is declared publicly in the register of interests.

While the nature of the relationship would still be reported, the Senedd's standards committee said people's names should not be disclosed publicly for safety reasons.

BBC Wales was told the committee was aware of "several incidences of family members receiving unwanted emails and social media messages because they were related to politicians".

Two of the four people on the standards committee, its Labour chair Hannah Blythyn and Plaid Cymru's Peredur Owen Griffiths, have partners who work for other MSs.

The pair declared an interest during the proceedings, but did not stay out of the discussions.

A spokesperson for the committee, in a statement, said: "In making this recommendation, the committee sought to balance openness with the need to protect the safety of loved ones.

"This is one recommendation amongst several intended to improve transparency around the declaration of interests by members."

The measure would need to be agreed by Senedd politicians, who are currently on recess.

The recommendation followed an inquiry into how MSs register and declare interests.

Recommendations include requiring MSs to put a price on any gifts received and on overseas visits, and registering how much money they receive for work outside of the Senedd.

In a forward to a report on the inquiry, Hannah Blythyn said the changes it was proposing "will encourage transparency and consistency".

Among the 14 requests is that an "exception" is made for publishing the name of family members, where they are employed by other MSs.

"As well as increasing transparency, the committee was mindful of the need to minimise the release of information about family members, simply for being related to an elected member," Blythyn wrote.

"To that end, we agreed that publishing the names of family members employed by other members on the register was an unnecessary risk to their safety, and will be removing this requirement from the seventh Senedd onwards."

Blythyn's report showed that both the standards commissioner Douglas Bain and the Labour Senedd group supported the change.

Bain told the committee there was "no significant advantage in publishing the name".

The Labour group in a letter to the committee: "Family members who are employed by Members of the Senedd are not public figures and the group strongly believes that additional measures are now required to protect their identity as part of the Senedd's wider commitment to protecting staff and members from abuse and threats to their personal security."

Blythyn, and committee colleague Peredur Owen Griffiths, both declared an interest at a meeting in April 2025 as both of their partners work for their party groups.

Blythyn's wife works for First Minister Eluned Morgan, while Owen Griffiths' wife works for Plaid Cymru MS Sioned Williams.

An earlier version of the inquiry report, published on the Senedd website, omitted the declaration. The Senedd said this was an "admin error".

Blythyn and Owen Griffiths were both approached for comment.