Common Questions

How many seats does the Senedd have?: From 2026, 96 seats across 16 constituencies. The previous chamber had 60 seats.
How does the Senedd election work in 2026?: Voters cast one vote for a party. Each of 16 constituencies returns 6 MSs allocated by the D'Hondt method from closed party lists.
What percentage of votes does a party need to win a Senedd seat?: Approximately 12 per cent of the constituency vote, according to Wales Governance Centre estimates.
Why was the Senedd gender-zip bill withdrawn?: The Senedd Cymru (Electoral Candidate Lists) Bill was withdrawn by a 40-12 vote on 24 September 2024, leaving no legal requirement for parties to alternate men and women on closed lists.
When was the Senedd established?: The Senedd (originally the National Assembly for Wales) was established in 1999. It was renamed the Senedd Cymru / Welsh Parliament in 2020.

Background

The Senedd (formerly the National Assembly for Wales) is the devolved legislature of Wales, established in 1999 under the Government of Wales Act 1998. It was renamed the Senedd Cymru / Welsh Parliament in 2020. For the 2026 election on 7 May, it operates under a fundamentally new electoral system: 96 seats across 16 constituencies, each returning 6 Members of the Senedd (MSs) via D'Hondt Closed-list proportional representation. This replaces the previous 60-seat mixed-member system. Voters cast one vote for a party; internal list order, set by the parties, determines which candidates are elected.

The expansion to 96 seats was approved by the Senedd itself in 2023. A gender-zipping bill that would have required parties to alternate men and women on closed lists was withdrawn by a 40-12 vote on 24 September 2024, leaving no legal floor on women's representation. The Wales Governance Centre estimates approximately 12 per cent of a constituency vote is needed to win a single seat under the D'Hondt allocation. The Senedd formally dissolved ahead of the 7 May poll.

The 2026 Senedd election is the most consequential in the institution's 27-year history: a new electoral system, a near-doubling of seats, and projections pointing to the first-ever change of governing party in Cardiff Bay. For readers following UK devolution, the outcome will show whether PR elections reliably produce legislatures that look different from those returned under first-past-the-post, and whether Wales's democratic experiment accelerates or stalls the case for similar reforms elsewhere.

How the World Sees Them

Wales

The new 96-seat closed-list system dramatically changes who can win seats — small parties like Reform UK can compete, while safe Labour seats under FPTP no longer exist.

Westminster

Holyrood and the Senedd both use proportional systems, highlighting the gap with Westminster's first-past-the-post, which distorts UK-wide representation of the same voter preferences.