WALES moved a step closer to major electoral reform as a two-day debate on the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill ended today.

Welsh Labour and Plaid Cymru committed to parliamentary reform in their co-operation agreement, adding 36 more Senedd members and a closed-list voting system.

The current mix of local and regional members will be replaced by 16 new constituencies, each represented by six Senedd members — parties will put forward lists of ranked candidates for each seat.

The two parties voted down amendments tabled by the Welsh Conservatives and Liberal Democrats to allow voters to choose candidates rather than vote for a party.

Counsel General Mick Antoniw, steering the Bill through, is confident it will get the two-thirds majority of MSs to become law.

After a further stage of amendments in April, the Senedd will vote on the Bill early in May. If passed, it will become law in June 2024, with the new arrangements applying to the next Senedd election in 2026.