Welsh Parliament
| Basic data | |
|---|---|
| Seat: | Senedd, Cardiff |
| Legislative period : | 5 years |
| MPs: | 60 |
| Current legislative period | |
| Last choice: | 5th May 2016 |
| Next choice: | May 6, 2021 |
| Chair: | Presiding Officer / Llywydd y Cynulliad Elin Jones ( Plaid Cymru ) Leader of the House / Arweinydd y Tŷ Julie James ( Labor ) |
|
|
| Distribution of seats: |
As of November 3, 2020
Government (31) opposition (29) (2) Established in January 2020 |
| Website | |
| senedd.wales | |
The Welsh Parliament ( WP ; English Welsh Parliament ) or the Senedd Cymru ( Welsh Senedd Cymru ), Senedd for short , is the regional parliament of Wales. It has the authority to make regulations for Wales , but without full legislative competence , and elects the First Minister , the head of government of the Welsh regional government , from among its members. From 1999 to May 2020 the institution was called the National Assembly for Wales ( English National Assembly for Wales , Welsh Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru ).
history
The call for political autonomy for Wales was first made by the Plaid Cymru political party , which won its first parliamentary seat in 1966. In a referendum in 1979, an autonomy from Great Britain was rejected. Decentralization later became a major concern of the Labor Party . In July 1997, the British government, under Tony Blair, published a government report outlining proposals for decentralization in Wales. These were approved by a referendum on September 18, 1997 . Then the UK Parliament enacted the Government of Wales Act 1998 , which established the National Assembly for Wales . The first elections took place in May 1999 . The 1999 National Assembly for Wales (Transfer of Functions) Order made it possible on July 1, 1999 to transfer the powers and duties of the Secretary of State for Wales to the National Assembly. With the Government of Wales Act 2006 , the British Parliament can also grant the Assembly legislative competence in individual cases. On May 6, 2020, the National Assembly for Wales was renamed and given its current name.
The desire for regional autonomy and its own regional parliament was never as pronounced in Wales as it was in Scotland, which could be related to the fact that Wales was part of the English legal area at the latest since the laws for the incorporation of Wales 1535-1542 , while Scotland was only much later with the Act of Union 1707 was united with England. There are therefore also efforts from various quarters in Wales to abolish the Welsh Parliament. In July 2020, a Welsh Political Barometer opinion poll commissioned by Cardiff University showed that 25% of those polled wanted to get the Welsh Parliament abolished (48% were against). Given the alternative of whether Wales should be more independent or abolish parliament, 33% opted for independence and 45% for the latter option.
composition
The Welsh Parliament has 60 members who are called MS (Member of the Senedd), or AS (Aelodau'r Senedd) in Welsh . Elections are held every five years, with voters each having two votes. 40 of the 60 members are elected in the constituencies using the majority voting system. The remaining 20 members represent the five regions of Wales and are elected through some kind of proportional representation. Since 2019, 16- and 17-year-olds as well as foreigners have also been eligible to vote .
Previous elections
| Political party | 1999 | 2003 | 2007 | 2011 | 2016 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Welsh Labor Party / Y Blaid Lafur | 35.5% | 28 | 36.6% | 30th | 29.6% | 26 | 36.9% | 30th | 31.5% | 29 | |
| Plaid Cymru | 30.6% | 17th | 19.7% | 12th | 21.0% | 15th | 17.9% | 11 | 20.8% | 12th | |
| Welsh Conservative Party / Y Blaid Geidwadol | 16.5% | 9 | 19.2% | 11 | 21.4% | 12th | 22.5% | 14th | 18.8% | 11 | |
| UKIP | - | 3.5% | 0 | 4.0% | 0 | 4.6% | 0 | 13.0% | 7th | ||
| Welsh Liberal Democrats / Y Democratiaid Rhyddfrydol | 12.5% | 6th | 12.7% | 6th | 11.7% | 6th | 8.0% | 5 | 6.5% | 1 | |
| Abolish the Welsh Assembly Party / Plaid Diddymu Cynulliad Cymru | - | - | - | - | 4.4% | 0 | |||||
| Wales Green Party / Plaid Werdd Cymru | 2.5% | 0 | 3.5% | 0 | 3.5% | 0 | 3.4% | 0 | 3.0% | 0 | |
| Socialist Labor Party | 1.0% | 0 | 1.2% | 0 | 1.3% | 0 | 2.4% | 0 | - | ||
| British National Party | - | 0.4% | 0 | 4.3% | 0 | 2.4% | 0 | - | |||
| John Marek Independent Party | - | 1.3% | 1 | - | - | - | |||||
| Other | 1.4% | 0 | 1.9% | 0 | 2.3% | 0 | 1.8% | 0 | 1.9% | 0 | |
| Independent | - | - | 1.0% | 1 | 0.1% | 0 | 0.1% | 0 | |||
| total | - | 60 | - | 60 | - | 60 | - | 60 | - | 60 | |
The Senedd
The plenary sessions and most of the committee meetings take place in the Senedd , which was designed by the Pritzker Prize winner Richard Rogers and inaugurated on March 1, 2006 and is located in Cardiff Bay . The Pierhead Building and Tŷ Hywel, two other locations of the Parliament, are in close proximity to the Senedd.
Powers
The Senedd has legislative powers only in areas that are expressly not reserved for Parliament in Westminster. This excludes, for example, the areas of foreign policy, police, justice, currency matters and most tax law matters. However, the areas in which Senedd can legislate include:
- Agriculture, forestry, fishing
- Culture
- Economic and rural development
- education
- traffic
- health
- tourism
Web links
- Welsh Parliament - Welsh Parliament website
- Welsh Politicians - Welsh politicians
- National Assembly for Wales - the Senedd , BBC dossier ( with 360 ° views )
Individual evidence
- ↑ Distribution of seats by party on the National Assembly website, accessed on May 22, 2019.
- ^ Former Welsh Government Minister Carl Sargeant has been found dead walesonline.co.uk November 7, 2017, accessed November 30, 2017
- ↑ Jack Sargeant wins Alyn and Deeside by-election BBC February 7, 2018, accessed on the same day.
- ^ Welsh assembly renamed Senedd Cymru / Welsh Parliament. In: bbc.com. May 6, 2020, accessed on May 6, 2020 .
- ^ Roger Awan-Scully : Attitudes to Devolution and Welsh Independence. June 5, 2020, accessed on July 12, 2020 .
- ^ Assembly passes new law to give 16 and 17-year-olds the right to vote in Welsh elections. November 27, 2019, accessed December 1, 2019 .
- ^ Government of Wales Act 2006. In: UK Government website. UK Government, accessed February 15, 2021 .
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