The Welsh Government has introduced a new Bill aiming to strengthen democratic accountability by reforming how Members of the Senedd are held to account and tackling misinformation in election campaigns.
The Senedd Cymru (Member Accountability and Elections) Bill proposes three key changes:
- the introduction of a recall system for Members of the Senedd;
- reforms to the Senedd’s standards procedures; and
- powers for a future government to address false or misleading statements made during election campaigns.
Introducing a system of recall for Members of the Senedd
The first part of the Bill proposes to introduce a recall system for Members of the Senedd - giving voters a formal mechanism to remove elected representatives between elections.
While relatively rare around the world, a recall system has been in place for Members of the House of Commons since 2015. The Scottish Parliament is also considering similar legislation through a Member’s Bill introduced by Graham Simpson MSP.
The proposed system is based on recommendations from the Standards of Conduct Committee’s January 2025 report on recall. It reflects the unique context of the Senedd’s new electoral arrangements, particularly the introduction of the closed list proportional representation electoral system from May 2026.
How would the Senedd’s recall system work?
Under the Bill’s proposals, a Member of the Senedd could face a recall poll if one of the following two events occur:
- Criminal conviction: The Member is convicted of a criminal offence in the UK and receives a prison sentence of 12 months or less (a longer sentence would already result in disqualification).
- Standards Committee recommendation: The Senedd votes to initiate a recall poll following a report of the Standards of Conduct Committee recommending recall.
Under the Bill's proposals, before the Committee can make such a recommendation, the Senedd must first approve recall guidance. The guidance would set out the criteria to be considered by the Standards of Conduct Committee when assessing whether a Member should be subject to recall.
If one of these two events occur, the Llywydd would set a date for a single-day recall poll within three months. This would closely reflect the format of a by-election or Senedd election and differs from the six-week petition process used in Westminster.
Registered voters in the Member’s constituency would be asked whether they want the Member to retain their seat or to remove them from office. If a majority of those voting choose to remove the Member, their seat would become vacant.
How they would be replaced would depend on whether they were elected on a political party’s list or as an individual candidate (an independent).
If they were elected on a political party’s list, they would be replaced by the next eligible and willing candidate on the list. If they were elected as an individual candidate, or if there are no more candidates on their political party’s list, the seat would remain vacant until the next Senedd election.
Strengthening standards procedures in the Senedd
Part 2 of the Bill proposes to introduce two new significant features into the Senedd’s standards procedures – the appointment of lay members to the Standards Committee and new powers for the Standards Commissioner to open their own investigations. Both of these changes were recommended by the Standards of Conduct Committee in its report on deliberate deception.
Lay Members on the Standards Committee
The Bill would enable the Senedd to appoint lay members - individuals who are not Members of the Senedd - to sit on the Standards of Conduct Committee. This change is intended to bring external expertise and independence to the Committee’s work. A similar model has been in place in the House of Commons since 2013, where there are now an equal number of lay members and MPs on the equivalent committee.
Own initiative investigation powers for the Standards Commissioner
The Bill also proposes giving the Commissioner for Standards the power to initiate investigations into suspected breaches of the Code of Conduct by Members of the Senedd without needing a complaint to be made. This approach is already used in the House of Commons and the Northern Ireland Assembly. In addition, the Bill would clarify that Members can refer themselves to the Commissioner for investigation.
Establishing the Standards Committee in law
In order to enable some of these changes to take place, the Bill would also make it a legal requirement for the Senedd to establish a Standards of Conduct Committee, which the Welsh Government says will also raise the profile of the Committee, both within the Senedd and with the wider Welsh public.
Tackling false or misleading statements in election campaigns
The third part of the Bill would give Welsh Ministers the power to introduce future legislation creating a criminal offence for making or publishing false or misleading statements of fact before or during a Senedd election.
Importantly, the Bill would not create this offence immediately. Instead, it provides a legal mechanism, via secondary legislation, for a future government to do so.
This follows a recommendation from the Senedd’s Standards of Conduct Committee in its report on deliberate deception. In that report, the Committee called for an amendment to section 13 of the Government of Wales Act 2006 to enable future rules on the conduct of Senedd elections to include provisions addressing deliberate deception.
The rules governing Senedd elections were recently updated ahead of the 2026 election to reflect changes to the electoral system. It is not expected that further changes would be made before May’s election, so any offence created under this Bill would likely not come into effect until the 2030 Senedd election at the earliest.
Limited time to scrutinise the Bill
With the next Senedd election approaching, the Welsh Government is working to complete its legislative programme before the Senedd dissolves in April 2026.
This has placed time pressures on the newly established Member Accountability Bill Committee, which has been tasked with scrutinising the Bill. Senedd committees usually have 10-12 weeks to consider a Bill’s general principles but the Member Accountability Bill Committee must complete its evidence gathering and publish its report by 23 December 2025.
To inform its work, the Committee has launched a public consultation, with submissions due by Wednesday 19 November 2025. It will also be taking targeted oral evidence in the coming weeks, including from the Counsel General and Minister for Delivery, Julie James MS, who is the Member in charge of the Bill.
You can follow the Committee’s work on the Bill on its website.
Article by Josh Hayman, Senedd Research, Welsh Parliament