Jayne Bryant MS, Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
I am pleased to inform members that the has been formally laid before the Senedd today. The Conduct Order outlines the procedures for conducting elections to the Senedd. It details how the election is managed and how individual candidates conduct and account for their election campaign. It also addresses the process for legal challenges to an election.
This marks a significant milestone in the comprehensive work to remake a consolidated Order ahead of the 2026 Senedd Elections, replacing the previous much amended 2007 version. The new Conduct Order is clearer, uses modern, gender neutral and accessible language, and is fully bilingual for the first time.
While the structure of the Order will be familiar, it has been updated with the view to implementing the substantial legislative changes required by the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Act 2024 to reflect changes to the Senedd’s electoral system. It also takes forward policy proposals outlined in the October 2022 White Paper on Electoral Reform and through the Elections and Elected Bodies (Wales) Act 2024.
Today we have also published the summary of consultation responses. This provides an overview of the feedback received during the formal consultation period which took place from 25 November 2024 to 17 February 2025.
The draft Order that was the subject of the consultation exercise included provision to establish a new postal voting statement correction procedure. The aim of the procedure would be to reduce the current level of unnecessary postal vote rejections by providing postal voters with an opportunity to correct common errors made in the provision of personal identifiers on their postal voting statement before the close of poll. However, having considered the feedback received from stakeholders as part of the consultation, the Government will defer implementation of the correction procedure. This will allow further engagement to be undertaken with electoral administrators to further develop and refine the procedure and explore options for later introduction. As a result, provisions relating to the correction procedure have been removed from the Conduct Order.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank to all those who participated in the consultation process. The engagement and contributions from a range of stakeholders and the public have been invaluable in shaping the final provisions of the Conduct Order. I would also like to thank the Reform Bill Committee for their considered report on the draft Order within the confines of the consultation period.
I look forward to the Senedd debate on this Order later in the Summer term.