Drakeford says new Senedd voting system will keep Reform UK out of power

Martin Shipton

Mark Drakeford has defended the fully proportional new voting system he has introduced, saying it will prevent the far-right Reform UK party forming the next Welsh Government with less than a third of the total vote.

Under the new arrangements, all 96 MSs elected in the expanded Senedd will be elected in the same way, in contrast to the electoral system used in previous devolved elections.

People will vote in May 2026 for a closed list of party candidates, with six MSs elected from each of 16 new “super constituencies” in proportion to the votes won by their parties.

Under the old system, 40 MSs were elected in “First Past The Post” constituencies, with an additional 20 MSs elected by proportional representation.

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Podcast

The former First Minister and current Finance Secretary was speaking on a podcast hosted by Labour MS Lee Waters, who asked him whether it had been anticipated that the new system would lead to a different political outcome.

Mr Drakeford responded: “What the new voting system guarantees is that there will be a progressive government in Wales after the election because we will have a system where if 30% of the population in Wales vote for a party of the far right, they’ll have 30% of the votes in the Senedd, and 70% of the votes will continue to be for parties who broadly share a progressive idea of what the future Wales should be like.”

Mr Drakeford added: “I think it's a very difficult moment for the Civil Service. I think it has obviously got used to the fact that election after election, the result would anticipate that Labour would, if not be the only party in government, would be the lead party in government. And that is a lot less certain now.

“But I think the shock will be less dramatic than some others, because I think what will happen after the election will be the political challenge will be to parties who actually believe in devolution and who share a broad sense of what centre left government in Wales should be like to find a way of coming together to defend that and to create stable government of that sort.

“And yes, there will be differences, of course, because the make-up of that government may not be like the governments up until now have been. But underneath the headline, the basic tenets of that government - a belief in devolution, a belief in the power of government to do good in people's lives, a belief that the money we raise is to be invested in the services the people in Wales depend upon - those big things will be shared.

"And actually, I think the new system guarantees a greater sense of continuity than if we were facing an election under our current system, where it's very likely a Reform insurgent party would take a whole swathe of the 40 First Past the Post seats on 32% of the vote - and we are mercifully defended against that.”

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Civil servants

Mr Waters had asked Mr Drakeford about the impact of the new voting system on civil servants following comments made on the podcast by former Liberal Democrat Education Minister Kirsty Williams.

She told how civil servants had been taken aback when she refused to call a new education strategy Qualified for Life 2, as if it was a follow-on from Qualified for Life, which had been published by one of her Labour predecessors.

Ms Williams said: “I think there will be a massive shock to the system [for the civil servants]. Are they ready? No. Are they aware that they're not ready? Yes.

“I've been in recently to do a session with [Welsh Government Permanent Secretary] Andrew Goodall and staff to talk about how best to support a new minister coming in. But are they ready? I don't think they are.

“And this is maybe controversial, but I don't think it's just the civil servants who are not ready. I think civic society in Wales is potentially not ready for not having the Labour Party in charge.

“I'm not making a party political point here, but I think it's not just the civil servants that have got used to how business is run in Wales, with the occasional interruption, where maybe there might be a formal coalition or a cuckoo in the nest [like herself as a Lib Dem minister].

“It's not just the civil servants that are going to have a shock. I think there will be ripples right the way through civic society in Wales if there is a different party in power, and I don't know whether anybody has truly grasped what that will mean for the wider context, not just the government. But I don't think they're ready. I think they will be completely bewildered.”