Welsh Parliament

The Welsh Parliament (Welsh: Senedd Cymru), commonly shortened to Senedd, is the devolved parliament with the power to make devolved laws in Wales. Between 1999 and 2020, it had the name National Assembly for Wales; commonly shortened to Welsh Assembly. History The Assembly was created after the Government of Wales Act 1998 law, which was introduced after a referendum in 1997. The Assembly had no powers to make primary legislation until the Government of Wales Act 2006 law, which gave the Assembly limited powers to make laws. Its powers were increased again after a Yes vote in a referendum on 3 March 2011, which allowed the Assembly to make laws without having to make a request to the Parliament of the UK, or to the Secretary of State for Wales. How it works The Senedd has 96 members, called Members of the Senedd, or MSs for short. In Welsh, they are called Aelod o'r Senedd. Members of the Senedd are elected for 4 years. There are 16 constituencies and each constituency elects 6 MSs through a closed party list system of proportional representation. This system was first used in the 2026 election. Previously this was done through an additional members system. There were 40 constituencies who each elected one MS using first past the post. There were also an additional 20 MSs (5 electoral regions which elected 4 MSs each) who were elected using a system of party list proportional representation. Related pages Welsh Government References