By Chris Haines
Independent Community News Network Senedd reporter

BADLY behaving Senedd members may be at risk of removal from office between elections under plans unveiled in Wales today.

The Senedd’s standards committee has published a report recommending a system similar to Westminster’s recall of MPs, enacted in 2015 following the expenses scandal.

Under the plans, from May 2026, voters would be asked if they want to retain a politician who committed a serious breach of the Senedd’s code of conduct.

The politician would be replaced with someone else from the same party, unlike in Westminster recall petitions that prompt a by-election.

Wales is moving to a fully proportional system at the next election, with no by-elections held, so the next candidate on a party’s list would automatically replace an ousted politician.

During the inquiry into the move, the Electoral Reform Society had raised concerns about political parties retaining seats, pointing out that most change hands in by-elections triggered by recall.

Voters would also only get a say if recall was recommended by the committee and signed off by a majority of the Senedd, despite concerns about politicians “marking their own homework.”

The committee recommended a “remove or replace” vote then be held on a single day, akin to a by-election, with postal and proxy voting. 

In the 52-page report, the committee said it was comfortable, on balance, with having a seat potentially vacant for years if an independent was removed or a party exhausted its list.

Standards committee chair Hannah Blythyn said: “For our parliament to function well, the public must have confidence in members.

“Politicians must act with decency and integrity and if they fail to do so, they should be accountable to the public for their actions.”

Ms Blythyn, who was sacked by former first minister Vaughan Gething in May over claims she had leaked to the press, pointed to her committee’s wider work on accountability.

She said: “The report on recall is part of an ongoing programme of work that is aimed at building trust and transparency, in both the Senedd’s standards procedures and our devolved democracy as a whole.

“It’s important we create a robust system that means that members are fully answerable to the people of Wales. The code of conduct they are expected to abide by must be respected.

“That is why we believe that it is right for the Senedd to introduce a system where the public have the option of removing members who seriously breach the code.”

A Welsh government spokesperson said: “We will consider the committee’s recommendations in detail and respond in due course.”