Major changes in the size and election of the Welsh Parliament
The Welsh legislature came into operation in May 1999 as an Assembly and in May 2020 was renamed aa a Parliament and it covers the 3 million citizens of Wales.
Prior to May 2026, the Welsh Parliament had 60 members elected by a system of proportional representation known as the ‘mixed member system’. As a result, 40 members represented individual geographical constituencies elected by the ‘first past the post’ (FPTP) system, with a further 20 members returned from five additional member regions, each electing four members.
Since May 2026, the Welsh Parliament has 96 members in a new system is called a ‘closed proportional list system.’ Wales is divided into 16 areas called constituencies and each constituency has six seats. Voters have one vote which is cast, not for an individual member but for a political party. Only if a voter wishes to support an independent candidate will the vote go to an individual.
The size of the Parliament was increased to reflect the greater powers since creation in 1999. The new electoral system was introduced to create a more proportional allocation of seats to parties.
The Parliament meets in the Senedd in Cardiff and is popularly known as the Senedd. When first created, the Assembly had no powers to initiate primary legislation. However, since 2006, the Assembly has had powers to legislate in some areas, though still subject to the veto of the Westminster Parliament. The Assembly originally had no tax-varying powers but the renamed Parliament does.
The Welsh Parliament still has less power in some respects than either the Scottish Parliament or the Northern Ireland Assembly because – unlike Scotland and Northern Ireland – Wales does not have a separate legal system from England.