Wales expands Senedd to 96 members in 2026 under Tactical Voting
Welsh voters will use tactical voting in a new way on 7 May 2026, when Wales elects a 96-member Senedd under a Closed List system. The vote ends the old mix of constituency and regional seats and gives each of the 16 new constituencies six Members.
The change follows the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Act, which received Royal Assent in 2024. It also shortens the Senedd’s term from five years to four and raises the limit on government ministers from 12 to 17, with the possibility of 18 or 19 if the Senedd approves.
Laura McAllister panel
Professor Laura McAllister chaired the Expert Panel established in 2017 that recommended increasing the size of the Senedd. That panel’s proposal has now been carried into law, and the result is a legislature that will take its seats in May 2026 with 96 Members instead of 60.
Under the new system, voters will be able to back a party or an independent candidate, but not an individual on a party list. That changes the choice facing electors in each constituency, because the ballot will no longer let them pick a named party candidate one by one.
Closed List Wales
The 16 new constituencies mirror the 32 Westminster constituencies, with six MSs returned in each. The old Senedd structure, created in 1999, used 40 First Past the Post seats and 20 regional Closed Party List Proportional Representation seats.
Ten of Wales’ 22 local authorities are now either the same size as, or larger than, the Senedd was when it had 60 members. That comparison sits at the center of the expansion argument: a smaller chamber was carrying scrutiny and committee work across too many Members who had to serve on multiple committees.
May 2026 Senedd
The practical change for voters is straightforward. On 7 May 2026, they will be choosing from a larger chamber, with a single closed-list ballot in each of the new constituencies and a four-year term for the Members who win those seats.
For parties, the tighter limit on ministers changes how many Members can be pulled into government roles, leaving more of the 96-member chamber available for scrutiny, committees, and backbench work. That is the point of the redesign: more Members in the room, fewer of them needed for ministerial posts, and a voting system built around party lists rather than individual names.
