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Welsh Democracy
4. National Assembly for Wales
The third tier of government in Wales, below the European and UK Parliaments, is the National
Assembly for Wales and the Welsh Government.
1. The Devolution Referendums
.1. March 2011 referendum on further legislative powers for the National Assembly
1
The referendum on 3 March 2011 to enable the National Assembly to pass primary laws in the
domestic areas for which it is responsible - for example health, education and the economy – was
approved by nearly a two-to one margin. The highest Yes vote was achieved in Gwynedd with 76
per cent of the electorate voting Yes. The only county to vote No was Monmouthshire, but only
by a narrow majority and a 17 per cent swing to the Yes camp compared with the referendum on
establishing the Assembly in 1997. Voter turnout was 35.4 per cent, safely above the 30 per cent some
commentators had argued would undermine the legitimacy of the result, and above the turn-out in
the referendum held on the London mayor.
In 1997 Wales was divided between east and west, with west Wales and the Valleys combining to
deliver the narrowest of victories. In 2011 there is now a pro-devolution consensus across the whole
of Wales. Counties like Flintshire, Powys, Pembrokeshire, Cardiff and Newport which voted No in 1997
voted Yes in 2011.
March 2011 referendum on primary legislative powers for the National Assembly
Local Authority
Anglesey
Gwynedd
Conwy
Denbighshire
Flintshire
Wrexham
Powys
Ceredigion
Pembrokeshire
Carmarthenshire
Swansea
Neath Port Talbot
Bridgend
Vale of Glamorgan
Cardiff
Rhondda Cynon Taf
Merthyr Tydfil
Caerphilly
Blaenau Gwent
Torfaen
Monmouthshire
Newport
Turnout %
43.8
43.4
33.8
34.5
29.4
27
39.7
44.1
38.7
44.4
32.9
38
35.6
40.1
35.2
34.6
30.1
35.5
32.4
33.8
35.8
27.9
Yes Votes
14,011
28,200
18,368
15,793
21,119
17,606
21,072
16,505
19,600
42,979
38,496
29,957
25,063
19,430
53,427
43,051
9,136
28,431
11,869
14,655
12,381
15,983
Yes %
64.8
76
59.7
61.8
62
64.1
51.6
66.2
55
70.8
63.2
73
68.1
52.5
61.4
70.7
68.9
64.4
68.9
62.8
49.4
54.8
No Votes
7,620
8,891
12,390
9,742
12,913
9,863
19,730
8,412
16,050
17,712
22,409
11,079
11,736
17,551
33,606
17,834
4,132
15,751
5,366
8,688
12,701
13,204
No %
35.2
24
40.3
38.1
37.9
35.9
48.4
33.8
45
29.2
36.8
27
31.9
47.5
38.6
29.3
31.1
35.6
31.1
37.2
50.6
45.2
Wales Total
35.4
517,132
63.49
297,380
36.51
clickonwales.org / Wales factfile
This was the referendum preamble and question as placed on the ballot paper:
The National Assembly for Wales: what happens at the moment
The Assembly has powers to make laws on 20 subject areas, such as:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Agriculture
Education
The Environment
Health
Housing
Local Government
In each subject area, the Assembly can make laws on some matters, but not others. To make laws
on any of these other matters, the Assembly must ask the UK Parliament for its agreement. The UK
Parliament then decides each time whether or not the Assembly can make these laws.
The Assembly
cannot make laws on subject areas such as defence, tax or welfare benefits, whatever the result of
this vote.
If most voters vote ‘yes’
The Assembly will be able to make laws on all matters in the 20 subject areas it has powers for,
without needing the UK Parliament’s agreement.
If most voters vote ‘no’
What happens at the moment will continue.
Question:
Do you now want the Assembly now to be able to make laws on all matter in the 20 subject areas it
has powers for?
— Yes
— No
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1.2. Welsh Assembly referendum
The referendum on proposals to establish a Welsh Assembly was held on 18 September 1997,
exactly one week after the referendum in Scotland, and four months after the May 1997 General
Election when Labour, led by Tony Blair, achieved a landslide victory. The referendum approved the
creation of an Assembly by the very slim majority of 6,721. Although the majority was small, it was
a significant reversal of the 1979 referendum, which had rejected the idea of a Welsh Assembly by a
massive four to one. In the 1997 referendum voters were asked to indicate their response to one of
two propositions:
1. I agree that there should be a Welsh Assembly or
2. I do not agree that there should be a Welsh Assembly.
Turnout
Anglesey 57.0
Gwynedd
60.0
Conwy
51.6
Denbighshire
49.9
Flintshire
41.1
Wrexham
42.5
Powys
56.5
Ceredigion
57.1
Pembrokeshire
52.8
Carmarthenshire
56.6
Swansea 47.3
Neath Port Talbot
52.1
Bridgend
50.8
Vale of Glamorgan
54.5
Cardiff
47.0
Rhondda Cynon Taf
49.9
Merthyr Tydfil
49.8
Caerphilly
49.5
Blaenau Gwent
49.6
Torfaen
45.6
Monmouthshire
50.7
Newport 46.1
Wales
50.3
Scotland
61.5
Yes
Votes
15,649
35,425
18,369
14,271
17,746
18,574
23,038
18,304
19,979
49,115
42,789
36,730
27,632
17,776
47,527
51,201
12,707
34,830
15,237
15,756
10,592
16,172
Yes
%
50.7
63.9
40.9
40.8
38.1
45.2
42.7
58.8
42.8
65.3
52.0
66.3
54.1
36.6
44.2
58.5
57.9
54.7
55.8
49.7
31.6
37.3
No
Votes
15,095
19,859
26,521
20,732
28,707
22,449
30,966
12,614
26,712
26,119
39,561
18,463
23,172
30,613
59,589
36,362
9,121
28,841
11,928
15,854
22,403
27,017
No
%
48.9
35.8
59.1
59.2
61.6
54.6
57.3
40.6
57.2
34.7
48.0
33.3
45.4
63.1
55.4
41.5
41.6
45.3
43.7
50.0
66.9
62.3
559,419
1,208,971
50.3
74.3
552,698
440,623
49.7
25.7
The highest Yes vote was in Neath Port Talbot (66.3 per cent) and the lowest in Monmouthshire
(31.6 per cent), but given the narrowness of the vote in Wales it can be said that all parts of
Wales contributed to the Yes victory. Although the majority in the referendum on the creation of
a Scottish Parliament was much larger, the change in sentiment in Wales between the 1979 and
1997 referendums was much greater than in Scotland. The number of Yes votes in Wales rose from
243,048 in 1979 to 559,419, an increase of 316,371 or 130 per cent.
clickonwales.org / Wales factfile
In 1979 the question put was “Do you want the provisions of the Wales Act 1978 to be put into effect?”
% Yes
1979 Clwyd + Gwynedd
27.1
Dyfed
28.1
Powys
18.5
Gwent + Mid Glam
16.7
South Glamorgan
13.1
West Glamorgan
18.7
Wales
20.3
Scotland* *51.6
% Yes
1997
47.4
57.2
42.7
51.3
42.0
57.8
% No
1979
72.9
71.9
81.5
83.3
86.9
81.3
% No
1997
52.6
42.8
57.1
48.7
58.0
42.2
Change
+20.3
+29.1
+24.2
+34.6
+28.8
+39.1
50.3
**74.4
79.7
48.4
49.7
25.6
+30.0
+22.8
* In 1979 an amendment to the Scotland Act required the approval of the measure by 40 per cent of the whole Scottish electorate.
Although there was a simple majority in favour, it fell short of the 40 per cent hurdle, and the measure was not implemented.
** In 1997 in Scotland a second question was posed, seeking approval for tax-raising powers for the Parliament. This was approved by
63.5 per cent,with 36.5 per cent voting no.
2. Development of the Institution
2.1. The Government of Wales Act 1998
The National Assembly was established by the Government of Wales Act 1998 that followed the
referendum. The Act was steered through Parliament by the then Secretary of State for Wales, Ron
Davies, MP for Caerphilly. It proposed an Assembly of 60 members, 40 of whom were to be elected by
the first-past-the-post method for single constituencies (based on the Parliamentary constituency
areas), and 20 elected through regional party lists within five regions – North Wales, Mid and West
Wales, South Wales Central, South Wales West, and South Wales East - using the d’Hondt system of
voting. (See Wales Factfile – Democracy 1: The European Parliament) Four members are elected for each
region. This is called the Additional Member System, and although more proportional than first-pastthe-post, is not a strictly proportional system. The Assembly is elected for a fixed term of four years.
A full description of the system can be found at www.assemblywales.org/abthome/abt-nafw
Under the 1998 Act the Assembly was constituted as a ‘body corporate’ with a single legal identity.
While the Act provided for a ‘First Secretary’ to be elected by the Assembly, the First Secretary’s
powers were to be delegated from the Assembly, and onwards from the First Secretary to the
Secretaries (ministers) that he/she would appoint. This structure had more in common with local
government than with a Parliament, but popular usage and deliberate intent pushed the body in a
Parliamentary direction.
The Act also provided for a Presiding Officer and a Deputy Presiding Officer. The Presiding Officer
is responsible for Standing Orders and is the final authority on their interpretation. The Presiding
Officer throughout the Assembly’s first decade was Lord (Dafydd) Elis-Thomas, the Plaid Cymru
member for Meirionnydd Nant Conwy.
The National Assembly met in plenary session for the first time on 12 May 1999.
Although Secretaries sat officially as an ‘the Executive Committee’ the committee was known as the
Cabinet from the outset. In October 2000 the term ‘Secretary’ was dropped in favour of ‘Minister’,
and in November 2001 the First Minister announced that the term Welsh Assembly Government
/ Llywodraeth Cynulliad Cymru would be used to describe the Cabinet and its officials, excluding
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those working for the Presiding Officers department. This made for a clearer division between the
executive and legislative functions of the Assembly.
2.2. The Richard Commission
In July 2002 the Assembly Government established an independent commission to review the
powers and the electoral arrangements for the Assembly. Its chairman was the Rt Hon Lord (Ivor)
Richard of Ammanford QC, a former Leader of the House of Lords, an EEC Commissioner and
British Ambassador to the United Nations. There were nine other members. They were:
• E
ira Davies - Wrexham. Managing director of a web ublishing business and a board member of S4C.
• T
om Jones - Welshpool. A farmer and member of the Countryside Council for Wales and Chair
of the Wales Council for Voluntary Action.
• D
r. Laura McAllister - Liverpool. Senior lecturer in public adminstration and politics, University
of Liverpool.
• Peter Price - Cardiff. Solicitor and former MEP and member of the National Assembly Standing
Orders Group.
• Ted Rowlands - Kidwelly. Now Lord Rowlands and former MP for Merthyr Tydfil and former junior
minister at the Welsh Office and Foreign Office.
• V
ivienne Sugar - Swansea. Former Chief Executive of Swansea City Council.
• H
uw Thomas - Colwyn Bay. Former Chief Executive of Denbighshire County Council and RNID
Trustee for Wales.
• S
ir Michael Wheeler-Booth - Retired Clerk of the Parliaments at Westminster and a member of
the Royal Commission on the House of Lords.
• P
aul Valerio - Swansea. Retired businessman and former Lord Mayor of Swansea and leader of
its Conservative Group
Terms of reference
Assembly powers
The Commission should consider the sufficiency of the Assembly’s current powers, and in particular
• whether the Assembly’s powers are sufficiently clear to allow optimum efficiency in policy-making
• whether both the breadth (that is, the range of issues over which it has control) and the depth
(that is, the capacity to effect change within those issues) of the Assembly’s powers are adequate
to permit integrated and consistent policy-making on issues where there is a clear and separate
Welsh agenda
• whether the mechanisms for UK Government policy-making as regards Wales, and the
arrangements for influence by the Assembly on these, are clear and effective, and in particular
whether they correct any apparent shortcoming from the previous item
• whether the division of responsibility between the Assembly and the UK Government places
inappropriate constraints on Whitehall policy-making, both on matters over which the Assembly
has control and otherwise.
The Commission should consider any possible financial implications arising from the
implementation of its proposals.
Electoral arrangements
The Commission should consider the adequacy of the Assembly’s electoral arrangements,
and in particular
• w
hether the size of the Assembly is adequate to allow it to operate effectively within a normal
working week, and without placing undue pressure on Members
• whether the means of electing the Assembly, including the degree of proportionality, adequately
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and accurately represents all significant interests in Wales
• w
hether any changes which may be recommended to the Assembly’s powers make either
necessary or desirable changes to the size of the Assembly or the means of electing it.
Report
The Commission should report on its deliberations, including its recommendations on the above
matters, by the end of 2003. It may make interim reports or recommendations if it sees fit.
Conclusions
The commission concluded:
• t hat there was a growing consensus in favour of devolution not only in Wales but also at
Westminster. An opinion survey showed that public support for a Parliamentary model of
devolution had almost doubled since 1997, rising from around 20 per cent to 38 per cent. The
number who would prefer to have no elected body at all had roughly halved, from 40 per cent to
21 per cent.
• that the Welsh Government and the National Assembly had been heavily involved in legislation,
through the use of their own secondary legislative powers and, with Whitehall and Westminster,
in developing primary legislation.
• that the 1998 settlement offered scope for delay and obstruction and that even with good will
on both sides, there were practical constraints on the achievement of the Assembly’s legislative
requirements.
• that the processes of devolved government should be more accountable and clearer to the wider
public, and that the Assembly should be given the tools to implement directly its policies and
translate its priorities and timetable into legislative form.
• that the case for change did not rest on the limitations of the existing settlement – but also on the
legislative and regulatory experience gained in these first four years.
• that the status quo was not a sustainable basis for future development, and that the pressures to
accelerate the devolution process would continue to grow.
Proposals
The Commission proposed:
• a
Wales Bill to amend the Government of Wales Act 1998 and confer primary law-making powers
on the Assembly.
• that the Bill should devolve everything to the Assembly unless specifically reserved (as with
the Scottish Parliament). Reserved matters could include: the Constitution, defence, fiscal
and monetary policy, immigration and nationality, competition, monopolies and mergers,
employment legislation, most energy matters, railway services (excluding grants), social security,
election arrangements (except local elections), most company and commercial law, broadcasting,
equal opportunities, police and criminal justice.
• that the corporate body structure should be replaced with a separated executive and legislature
• that with the advent of an Assembly with primary law-making powers, tax-varying powers would
be desirable but not essential
• that the size of the Assembly should increased from 60 to 80 members to improve scrutiny
• that the additional member system of Assembly elections should be replaced with the Single
Transferable Vote system.
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2.3. The Government of Wales Act 2006
Following publication of the Richard Commission’s report the Government did not move to
implement all its recommendations. It rejected the Scottish model of granting full primary lawmaking powers as well as the proposals to increase the size of the Assembly from 60 to 80 and
to switch to the STV voting system. Instead it produced a compromise formula that allowed the
National Assembly to pass laws (to be called Measures) in specific areas subject to the grant of
powers by Westminster in those areas under Legislative Competence Orders.
The Act ended the status of the National Assembly as a single unitary corporate body, and replaced
that with three entities that together are more akin to a true Parliamentary model:
• T
he National Assembly, able to make new laws by means of Assembly Measures in devolved
areas where Westminster has granted it legislative competence.
• The National Assembly Commission, a body corporate, headed by the Presiding Officer, which
provides support functions to the Assembly. The Commission’s staff is legally separate from the
civil service.
• The Welsh Government, a separate executive, including the First Minister and Counsel General,
and Ministers and Deputy Ministers. For the first time Ministers would be Ministers of the Crown,
rather than deriving their powers by delegation from the Assembly itself. This gave the Assembly
Government a legal status akin to a Whitehall government department.
Part 3 Powers
Under the 2006 Act the Assembly’s powers have become known as ‘Part 3 powers’ after that part of
the Act that describes them. Part 3 specifies that the National Assembly can pass laws for Wales –
called Assembly Measures. Assembly Measures can apply only to Wales and they must also relate to
a specific Matter contained within one of the Fields in Schedule 5 of the 2006 Act, listed below:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Field 1: Agriculture, fisheries, forestry and rural development
Field 2: Ancient monuments and historic buildings
Field 3: Culture
Field 4: Economic development
Field 5: Education and training
Field 6: Environment
Field 7: Fire and rescue services and promotion of fire safety
Field 8: Food
Field 9: Health and health services
Field 10: Highways and transport
Field 11: Housing
Field 12: Local government
Field 13: National Assembly for Wales
Field 14: Public administration
Field 15: Social welfare
Field 16: Sport and recreation
Field 17: Tourism
Field 18: Town and country planning
Field 19: Water and flood defence
Field 20: Welsh language
As new powers accrue to the Assembly these are listed as Matters under the relevant Field. The
Assembly can add more powers (more Matters) to the Fields listed above, and therefore expand its
legislative powers, in one of two ways:
clickonwales.org / Wales factfile
• B
y asking Parliament in London to transfer Matters and consequently legislative powers to the National
Assembly using an Act going through the UK Parliament. In this case when MPs vote to approve an Act
of Parliament in London they are giving responsibility for making laws under that Matter to Wales.
• By formally requesting Matters to be added to a policy Field through a ‘Legislative Competence
Order’ (LCO). An LCO comes from the National Assembly and needs approval in the Assembly, in
Parliament and in the relevant UK Government department or departments.
Assembly Measures, which have all the force of an Act of Parliament, are examined and passed by
the Assembly itself, being passed into law through a vote among AMs after a process of examination
in the Assembly. After AMs have approved the final text it is given to the Queen for approval, which
formally brings the law into existence.
Part 4 powers
The Act also provides for a more radical devolution of powers, whereby the Assembly would be
directly empowered to pass primary legislation - without parallel approval by the UK Parliament
- in the subject areas described in Part 4, with some exceptions. These subject areas come within
the 20 policy Fields set out in the Act. However, it is a stipulation of the Act that Part 4 cannot be
implemented without the holding of a further referendum.
Implementation of Part 4 would be a significant extension to the National Assembly’s legislative
authority. Many powers would be devolved as a complete package in a single step, compared with
the current system which devolves highly specific powers individually and by request.
Peter Hain, Secretary of State for Wales during the formation of the Government of Wales Act 2006, said:
“[Part 3] was a constitutional innovation because as Secretary of State for Wales I wanted to
make progress on giving the Assembly more powers. I knew that without a referendum you
couldn’t give full primary powers – but I put full primary powers [Part 4] in the Government
of Wales Act 2006 and said a referendum would be necessary to trigger them. I did this
because full primary powers would be a fundamental change from the Government of
Wales Act 1997 settlement that the people of Wales endorsed by referendum. In the
meantime, I thought, we should get on with giving the Assembly more powers, more quickly
than the old system of an average of one Bill a year.”
3. National Assembly Elections
The first elections to the National Assembly took place on 6th May 1999. The Second election took
place on 1st May 2003. The third election took place on 3rd May 2007. The fourth election took place
on 5th May 2011.
2011 National Assembly Election Turnout – 42.2 per cent
Constituency Votes
Total votes
%
Cands
Conservative
236,916
25
40
Labour 401,677
42.3
40
Liberal Democrat
100,731
10.6
40
Plaid Cymru
182,907
19.3
40
UKIP
Independent Green
Other 27,021
2.8
Total 949,252
Ams elected
6
28
1
5
0
clickonwales.org / Wales factfile
Regional List Vote Total votes
Conservative
213,773
Labour 349,935
Liberal Democrat
76,349
Plaid Cymru
169,799
UKIP
Independent People’s Voice
Other 139,532
%
22.5
36.9
8
17.9
Lists
5
5
5
5
Ams elected
8
2
4
6
14.7
2007 National Assembly Election Turnout – 43.7 per cent
Constituency votes
Conservative
Labour
Liberal Democrat
Plaid Cymru
UKIP
Independent People’s Voice
Other
Total Total votes
%
Cands
218,730
22.4
40
314,925
32.2
40
144,450
14.8
40
219,121
22.4
40
18,047
1.8
29,699
1
3,348
1
1,867
950,187
200
AMs elected
5
24
3
7
0
1
0
0
40
Regional list votes
Conservative
Labour
Liberal Democrat
Plaid Cymru
Green Independent BNP
UKIP
Other
Total Total votes
%
Lists
209,153
21.4
5
288,954
29.6
5
114,500
11.7
5
204,757
21.0
5
33,803
3.5
5
9,350
42,197
4.3
38,490
33,683
974,887
AMs elected
7
2
3
8
0
0
0
0
0
20
2003 National Assembly Election Turnout – 38.2 per cent
Constituency votes
Total votes
%
Conservative
169,432
19.9
Labour
340,515
40.0
Liberal Democrat
120,220
14.1
Plaid Cymru
180,183
21.2
Other
40,053
4.8
Total 850,403
Regional list votes
Total votes
%
Conservative
162,725
19.2
Labour
310,658
36.6
Liberal Democrat
108,013
12.7
Plaid Cymru
167,653
19.7
Cands
40
40
40
40
40
200
AMs elected
1
30
3
5
1
40
Lists
5
5
5
5
AMs elected
10
0
3
7
clickonwales.org / Wales factfile
Green Other
Total 30,028
100,503
849,552
3.5
8.3
100
5
26
51
0
0
20
1999 National Assembly Election – Turnout – 46.3 per cent
Constituency votes
Total votes
%
Conservative
162,133
15.8
Labour
384,671
37.6
Liberal Democrat
137,857
13.5
Plaid Cymru
290,572
28.4
Green
1,002
0.1
Other
46,990
4.6
Total 1,023,225
Regional list votes
Total votes
%
Conservative
168,206
16.5
Labour
361,657
35.5
Liberal Democrat
128,008
12.5
Plaid Cymru
312,048
30.6
Green 25,858
2.5
Other
26,080
2.4
Total 1,021,857
100
Cands
40
40
40
40
1
38
199
AMs elected
1
27
3
9
0
0
40
Lists
5
5
5
5
5
19
44
AMs elected
8
1
3
8
0
0
20
Party shares – constituency vote - percentage
Con
Lab
LibDem
Plaid Green
2011 25
42.3
10.6
19.3 0
2007 22.4
32.2
14.8
22.4
0
2003 19.9
40.0
14.1
21.2
0
1999 15.8
37.6
13.5
28.4
0.1
Party shares – list vote - percentage
Con
Lab
LibDem
2011 22.5
36.9
8
2007 21.4
29.6
11.7
2003 19.2
36.6
12.7
1999 16.5
35.5
12.5
Plaid
17.9 21.0
19.7
30.6
Green
0
3.5
3.5
2.5
Seats in Assembly
Con
Lab
2011 14
30
2007 12
26
2003 11
30
1999 9
28
Plaid
11
15
12
17
Ind
LibDem
5
6
6
6
1
1
0