Fri, 24th July Cardiff 21°
Nation.Cymru wordmark
Advertisement

News

Abolish announces it will not field candidates at Senedd election

By Mark Mansfield
Abolish the Assembly leader Richard Suchorzewski

The Abolish the Welsh Assembly Party has confirmed it will not stand candidates in the forthcoming Senedd election, citing changes to the electoral system and the risk of splitting the anti-devolution vote.

In a statement, the party said the decision followed a “careful assessment” of the new closed-list D’Hondt electoral system and the wider political landscape in Wales.

Under the revised system, smaller parties are widely expected to face greater difficulty in securing representation. The party said it believed contesting the election could divide voters who question the direction of devolution, potentially benefiting parties that support further expanding the Senedd’s powers.

Party leader Richard Suchorzewski described the move as a strategic decision.

“Our priority has always been the Welsh taxpayer and effective governance,” he said.

“Standing in this election would be largely symbolic and risks splitting the anti-devolution vote, potentially strengthening those committed to further entrenching and expanding the Senedd.

“While we remain committed to the principle of abolition, we recognise that other parties now have a more realistic path to representation under the new system. We do not intend to stand in the way of that opportunity simply to maintain a presence on the ballot paper. This is a strategic decision based on electoral reality.”

The party has long campaigned for the abolition of the Senedd and opposed moves to expand its size.

It reiterated its opposition to the planned increase in the number of Members of the Senedd to 96 and said it would continue to focus on issues of cost, accountability and performance in Welsh governance.

At the 2021 election, the party received 18,149 constituency votes and 41,399 regional votes, equivalent to 3.7% of the vote, without securing representation.

For the price of a cup of coffee a month you can help us create an independent, not-for-profit, national news service for the people of Wales, by the people of Wales.

Get more trusted Welsh news

Choose Nation.Cymru as a preferred source in Google News to see more of our journalism.

Choose Nation.Cymru as a preferred source in Google News

22 comments

Guess Again

Seems like an opportune time to announce my intention to stand in the upcoming Senedd election as the 'Abolish the Abolish the Welsh Assembly Party' candidate. Vote for me!

Reply
J Jones

Abolish appear to have already abolished themselves, I suppose it's much easier for these types to vent their hatred with the Deformed racists.

Reply
Alwyn

Don't give them ideas, they'll set up another party to abolish you

Reply
Fi yn unig

I wondered when we would hear from this anti Welsh hate unit. Almost 6 years since WE abolished the 'assembly' and called it a parliament, he still has not caught up. By standing candidates, he would be irrelevant. By not standing any, irrelevant and non existent. Abolish 'Abolish' now!

Reply
TheOtherJones

And to think the BBC gave this rabble a platform as if they were a major player in the last election. That decision will never cease to baffle me.

Reply
Fi yn unig

I recall him holding up a bilingual letter and saying that having Welsh on it should stop because it's a waste of money. Eradicationist scumbag!

Reply
Roger

Might be explained by Johnson's Muscular Unionism Unit.

Reply
Rob W

They probably couldn't afford all those lost deposits!!

Reply
Y Cymro

Split the anti-devolution vote, lol. I think Richard Suchorzewski's worried about losing his deposit. You’d think "Abolish the Welsh Assembly" would advocate splitting their vote — they’d have two party members then. 🤣

Reply
Adam

How are such blatant racists just allowed in our communities??

Reply
James Edwards

So the party that wants to abolish the Senedd is too scared to stand in the Senedd elections because it will be humiliated. Typical Far right cowards.

Reply
Roger

"risks splitting the anti-devolution vote" Which other party is anti-devolution? Nigel previously said that "ship has sailed" and the party told the BBC in September "It is not party policy to abolish the Senedd. It will not be in our manifesto next year". Meanwhile the Cons oppose expansion not abolition, because understandably they too don't want too many Tories in the bay. Have there been some shady backroom deals? Or is Suchorzewski about to defect from his own party? What aren't we being told?

Reply
Paul ap Gareth

The Conservatives are increasingly becoming anti-devolution. It is still not their policy but it feels like they are setting the stage. They repeatedly bring up the idea of abolition. And select candidates who openly advocate for scrapping the Senedd. I will cite two sources for illustration 1) https://nation.cymru/opinion/welsh-conservatives-are-risking-irrelevance-with-an-anti-devolution-stance/ 2) https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gj94y2e0zo

Reply
Rob

As far as I know UKIP are still standing candidates

Reply
Roger

Not confirmed yet which makes this announcement very premature, assuming the larger parties are being honest and he doesn't know something we don't know. The 4% who support Abolish deserve an opportunity to express that view democratically.

Reply

In reply to Roger

Brychan

The current electoral arrangements for the Senedd will sunset at the end of this year so will need to be renewed or replaced with an alternative. The 'expert panel' established to look into this matter consisting of Professor Laura MacAllister, Professor Sarah Childs, Sir Evan Paul Silk, Dr Alan Renwick, Rob Clements, and Professor David Farrell recommended the "Single Transferable Vote" system which is used widely throughout the democratic world, as well as Scotland. However, the Labour Party in the current term of office decided to overlook this recommendation to impose the "closed list" system for this election in May.  At a guess, the Labour Party wanted an election system to remove 'smaller parties' from the tussle. Ironic, given that the latest polls show that it may well be the Labour Party who will suffer.

Reply

In reply to Brychan

Roger

It's ironic isn't it that STV removes the need for tactical voting that will be so damaging to Labour in May. When there's only one box to tick it's necessary to use that vote to pick the only party with a real chance of abolishing Reform in Wales. And that's still true under PR because while that system may prevent Reform from getting into government, they might still get the most votes and use this to create a stolen election failed democracy narrative as a justification to abolish Wales when they win Westminster in 2029.

Reply
Leigh Richards

"citing changes to the electoral system and the risk of splitting the anti-devolution vote"....wonder who they are standing aside in favour of? Unless Reform intend running on a abolition platform (which looks unlikely from what Farage has been saying) then it must mean there'll be some fringe extreme right, Wales hating, uber british nat outfit standing

Reply
Brychan

They blame the 'electoral system' yet when they stood in the Westminster elections their preferred electoral system they barely got any support.   Only got 669 votes in Vale of Glamorgan (1.5% of the vote), only got 480 votes in Wrexham (1.2% of the vote) and only got 372 votes Brecon, Radnor, and Cwm Tawe (0.8% of the vote). As for Mark Reckless, he only turned up in Wales after the good people of Rochester and Strood in Kent evicted him from office in 2015, his wife Catriona, resigning from the local council shortly after, to join him. They set up a property rental company in Cardiff. He then stood in the 2021 Senedd election for Abolish taking just 1,173 votes in Monmouth constituency (3.3% of the vote), before joining ReformUK. His wife Catriona is now a Conservative councillor representing Pentyrch and St Fagans in Cardiff. 

Reply
Rhosddu

Pity, I could've done with a laugh. Hope we've seen the last of them.

Reply
Paul ap Gareth

The article says, "Under the revised system, smaller parties are widely expected to face greater difficulty in securing representation." Is that really true? Does the new electoral system mean it is more difficult for smaller parties? The new system is obviously way easier than the FPTP element of the old system. Was the old additional member element easier for smaller parties to get elected compared to full PR?

Reply
Roger

So the message here is clear. There's no need for an abolish devolution party when there's an Abolish Wales party well ahead in the polls.

Reply

Leave a reply

Replying to Guess Again Cancel

Seems like an opportune time to announce my intention to stand in the upcoming Senedd election as the 'Abolish the Abolish the Welsh Assembly Party' candidate. Vote for me!

Comments are reviewed before they appear.