5th National Assembly for Wales

This is a list of Assembly Members (AMs; Welsh: Aelodau'r Cynulliad, ACau) elected to the fifth National Assembly for Wales at the 2016 election. In May 2020, the representatives were renamed to Members of the Senedd (MSs; Welsh: Aelodau o'r Senedd; ASau) in the fifth Senedd, they would be known as the fifth Senedd for the remainder of their term. From the 2021 election members would be elected under this new title of Senedd. There are a total of 60 members elected, 40 were elected from first past the post constituencies with a further 20 members being returned from five regions, each electing four AMs through mixed-member proportional representation. In between elections, members of the legislature may not necessarily be of the same party or the same candidate elected in 2016.

5th Assembly/Senedd
← 4th Assembly 6th Senedd →
The Welsh Assembly Building (Senedd) in 2019
Overview
Legislative body	National Assembly for Wales (Senedd from 2020)
Jurisdiction	Wales, United Kingdom
Meeting place	Senedd building, Cardiff
Term	5 May 2016 (2016-05-05) – 6 May 2021 (2021-05-06)
Election	2016 National Assembly for Wales election
Government	Third Jones government (2016–18) First Drakeford government (2018–21)
Opposition	Shadow Cabinet of Leanne Wood (2016) Vacant (2016–17) Second Shadow Cabinet of Andrew R. T. Davies (2017–18) Shadow Cabinet of Paul Davies (2018–21) Third Shadow Cabinet of Andrew RT Davies (2021)
Members	60
Llywydd (presiding officer)	Rosemary Butler (2016) Elin Jones (2016–21)
First Minister	Carwyn Jones (2016–18) Mark Drakeford (2018–21)

Composition of the Assembly (Senedd from May 2020)

Party		2016 election	Prior to 2021 election
•	Labour	29	29
	Plaid Cymru	12	10
	Conservative	11	10
	Abolish the Welsh Assembly Party	N/A	2
•	Liberal Democrats	1	1
	UKIP	7	1
	Propel	N/A	1
	Independent	0	3
	Independent Group for Reform	N/A	3
Total		60	60

Government parties denoted with bullets (•)

Assembly members by party following 2016 election (5th Assembly)

Siambr diagram following the 2016 election

Members by party

Party		Assembly leader	Name	Constituency or region
	Labour (29)	Carwyn Jones	Mick Antoniw	Pontypridd
			Hannah Blythyn	Delyn
			Dawn Bowden	Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney
			Jayne Bryant	Newport West
			Hefin David	Caerphilly
			Alun Davies	Blaenau Gwent
			Mark Drakeford	Cardiff West
			Rebecca Evans	Gower
			Vaughan Gething	Cardiff South and Penarth
			John Griffiths	Newport East
			Lesley Griffiths	Wrexham
			Mike Hedges	Swansea East
			Vikki Howells	Cynon Valley
			Jane Hutt	Vale of Glamorgan
			Huw Irranca-Davies	Ogmore
			Julie James	Swansea West
			Ann Jones	Vale of Clwyd
			Carwyn Jones	Bridgend
			Jeremy Miles	Neath
			Baroness Eluned Morgan	Mid and West Wales
			Julie Morgan	Cardiff North
			Lynne Neagle	Torfaen
			Rhianon Passmore	Islwyn
			Jenny Rathbone	Cardiff Central
			David Rees	Aberavon
			Carl Sargeant	Alyn and Deeside
			Ken Skates	Clwyd South
			Lee Waters	Llanelli
			Joyce Watson	Mid and West Wales
	Plaid Cymru (12)	Leanne Wood	Rhun ap Iorwerth	Ynys Môn
			Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas	Dwyfor Meirionnydd
			Siân Gwenllian	Arfon
			Llyr Huws Gruffydd	North Wales
			Bethan Jenkins	South Wales West
			Elin Jones	Ceredigion
			Steffan Lewis	South Wales East
			Dai Lloyd	South Wales West
			Neil McEvoy	South Wales Central
			Adam Price	Carmarthen East and Dinefwr
			Simon Thomas	Mid and es
			Leanne Wood	Rhondda
	Conservative Party (11)	Andrew R. T. Davies	Mohammad Asghar	South Wales East
			Angela Burns	Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire
			Andrew R. T. Davies	South Wales Central
			Paul Davies	Preseli Pembrokeshire
			Suzy Davies	South Wales West
			Janet Finch-Saunders	Aberconwy
			Russell George	Montgomeryshire
			Mark Isherwood	North Wales
			David Melding	South Wales Central
			Darren Millar	Clwyd West
			Nick Ramsay	Monmouth
	UKIP (7)	Nathan Gill	Gareth Bennett	South Wales Central
			Michelle Brown	North Wales
			Nathan Gill	North Wales
			Neil Hamilton	Mid and West Wales
			Caroline Jones	South Wales West
			Mark Reckless	South Wales East
			David Rowlands	South Wales East
	Liberal Democrats (1)	Kirsty Williams	Kirsty Williams	Brecon and Radnorshire

Assembly members by constituency and region following 2016 election (5th Assembly)

Constituency members

Seat	Member	Portrait	Party		First elected
Aberavon	David Rees			Labour	2011
Aberconwy	Janet Finch-Saunders			Conservative	2011
Alyn and Deeside	Carl Sargeant			Labour	2003
Arfon	Siân Gwenllian			Plaid Cymru	2016
Blaenau Gwent	Alun Davies			Labour	2007
Brecon and Radnorshire	Kirsty Williams			Liberal Democrats	1999
Bridgend	Carwyn Jones			Labour	1999
Caerphilly	Hefin David			Labour	2016
Cardiff Central	Jenny Rathbone			Labour	2011
Cardiff North	Julie Morgan			Labour	2011
Cardiff South and Penarth	Vaughan Gething			Labour	2011
Cardiff West	Mark Drakeford			Labour	2011
Carmarthen East and Dinefwr	Adam Price			Plaid Cymru	2016
Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire	Angela Burns			Conservative	2007
Ceredigion	Elin Jones			Plaid Cymru	1999
Clwyd South	Ken Skates			Labour	2011
Clwyd West	Darren Millar			Conservative	2007
Cynon Valley	Vikki Howells			Labour	2016
Delyn	Hannah Blythyn			Labour	2016
Dwyfor Meirionnydd	Dafydd Elis-Thomas			Plaid Cymru	1999
Gower	Rebecca Evans			Labour	2011
Islwyn	Rhianon Passmore			Labour	2016
Llanelli	Lee Waters			Labour	2016
Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney	Dawn Bowden			Labour	2016
Monmouth	Nick Ramsay			Conservative	2007
Montgomeryshire	Russell George			Conservative	2011
Neath	Jeremy Miles			Labour	2016
Newport East	John Griffiths			Labour	1999
Newport West	Jayne Bryant			Labour	2016
Ogmore	Huw Irranca-Davies			Labour	2016
Pontypridd	Mick Antoniw			Labour	2011
Preseli Pembrokeshire	Paul Davies			Conservative	2007
Rhondda	Leanne Wood			Plaid Cymru	2003
Swansea East	Mike Hedges			Labour	2011
Swansea West	Julie James			Labour	2011
Torfaen	Lynne Neagle			Labour	1999
Vale of Clwyd	Ann Jones			Labour	1999
Vale of Glamorgan	Jane Hutt			Labour	1999
Wrexham	Lesley Griffiths			Labour	2007
Ynys Môn	Rhun ap Iorwerth			Plaid Cymru	2013

Regional members

Region	Member	Portrait	Party		First elected
Mid and West Wales	Neil Hamilton			UKIP	2016
	Eluned Morgan			Labour	2016
	Simon Thomas			Plaid Cymru	2011
	Joyce Watson			Labour	2007
North Wales	Michelle Brown			UKIP	2016
	Nathan Gill			UKIP	2016
	Llŷr Gruffydd			Plaid Cymru	2011
	Mark Isherwood			Conservative	2003
South Wales Central	Gareth Bennett			UKIP	2016
	Andrew R. T. Davies			Conservative	2007
	Neil McEvoy			Plaid Cymru	2016
	David Melding			Conservative	1999
South Wales East	Mohammad Asghar			Conservative	2007
	Steffan Lewis			Plaid Cymru	2016
	Mark Reckless			UKIP	2016
	David Rowlands			UKIP	2016
South Wales West	Suzy Davies			Conservative	2011
	Bethan Jenkins			Plaid Cymru	2007
	Caroline Jones			UKIP	2016
	Dai Lloyd			Plaid Cymru	2016

Changes between elections

Government formation

The May 2016 election saw the biggest ever change in the Assembly's composition. Labour dropped from 30 to 29 seats, and Plaid Cymru moved from 11 to 12 seats. The Conservatives lost 3 seats, moving from 14 seats to 11, while the Liberal Democrats dropped from 5 to 1 seat. UKIP, who had not previously had representation, gained seven AMs.

In the initial ballot for First Minister, Plaid Cymru's Leanne Wood and Labour's Carwyn Jones each gained 29 votes; a week of talks were then held. A document was produced after Plaid Cymru–Labour talks entitled "Moving Wales Forward", which detailed policy concessions in exchange for allowing Carwyn Jones to become First Minister. Labour appointed Kirsty Williams as Education Secretary, so that the minority government was a coalition between Welsh Labour and the Welsh Liberal Democrats. Plaid Cymru, the Conservatives and UKIP formed opposition groups.

In 2018, Mark Drakeford was elected to the leadership of the Welsh Labour Party and became first minister, leading a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats and an independent member.

In May 2020, the representatives were renamed to Members of the Senedd in the fifth Senedd, they would be known by this title for the remainder of their term. From the 2021 election members would be elected under this new title.

Changes in composition of the Assembly (now Senedd) between elections

Date	Member	Reason for change	Original designation		Constituency/region	New designation		Notes
17 August 2016	Nathan Gill	CD		UKIP	North Wales		Independent	Left the Assembly group.[1] He remained a member of the party and its leader in Wales, until Neil Hamilton was made Wales leader in September 2016.[2]
14 October 2016	Dafydd Elis-Thomas	CD		Plaid Cymru	Dwyfor Meirionnydd		Independent	Quit the Plaid Cymru group on 14 October 2016. As a result of the defection, Leanne Wood lost the title of leader of the opposition. Two months later, he pledged to back the Welsh Labour-led Government, giving the new government an overall majority in the Welsh Assembly.[3][4]
19 March 2018	Neil McEvoy	Suspended		Plaid Cymru	South Wales Central		Independent	Was suspended by the Plaid Cymru group after a tribunal found him guilty of bullying in his other role as a councillor for Cardiff. He was later expelled from Plaid Cymru.[5] In February 2020 he announced that he was forming a new political party, the Welsh National Party, and that he had registered the name with the Electoral Commission. The launch of the party was planned for April 2020.[6][7]
6 April 2017	Mark Reckless	CD		UKIP	South Wales East		Conservative	Upon leaving, he said, "I leave UKIP positively, having achieved our joint aim, a successful referendum to leave the EU".[8][9]
3 November 2017	Carl Sargeant	Suspended		Labour	Alyn and Deeside		Independent	Sargeant was suspended from Welsh Labour following allegations about his personal conduct.[10]
7 November 2017 - 6 February 2018	Carl Sargeant	Death		Independent	Alyn and Deeside		Labour	On 7 November 2017, Sargeant was found dead.[11] A by-election was held in his former constituency of Alyn and Deeside on 6 February 2018 to choose a successor; this was won by the Labour candidate, his son, Jack.[12]
27 December 2017	Nathan Gill	Resigned		Independent	North Wales		Independent	On 27 December 2017 it was announced that he had resigned as an AM.[13] As 3rd on UKIP's list for the North Wales region, Mandy Jones was sworn in as a Member on 29 December 2017.[14] On 9 January UKIP Wales[clarification needed] announced that she would not be joining the UKIP group in the Assembly, due to employing members of other parties in her office.[15]
25 July 2018	Simon Thomas	Resigned		Plaid Cymru	Mid and West Wales		Plaid Cymru	Thomas resigned following his arrest for possession of indecent images.[16] Helen Mary Jones replaced Thomas as a Member in August 2018.[17]
12 September 2018	Caroline Jones	CD		UKIP	South Wales West		Brexit Party	Resigned as a member of UKIP and from UKIP's group on 12 September 2018.[18]
20 November 2018	Jenny Rathbone	Suspended		Labour	Cardiff Central		Independent	Suspended over remarks about Jewish people.[19] She was later re-admitted.[20]
9 January 2019		Re-admitted		Independent	Cardiff Central		Labour
11 January 2019	Steffan Lewis	Death		Plaid Cymru	South Wales East		Plaid Cymru	Died of bowel cancer on 11 January 2019 and was replaced by Delyth Jewell.[21]
26 March 2019	Michelle Brown	CD		UKIP	North Wales		Independent	Left the UKIP group in March 2019, to sit as an independent.[22]
14 April 2019	Mark Reckless	CD		Conservative	South Wales East		Independent	On 14 April 2019, Reckless left the Conservative Party Group over the party's failure to deliver Brexit. He then sat as an independent member.[23]
15 May 2019	Mark Reckless	CD		Independent	South Wales East		Brexit Party	Reckless joined the new Brexit Party group in May 2019.[24]
10 November 2019	Gareth Bennett	CD		UKIP	South Wales Central		Independent	Left the UKIP group in November 2019 to sit as an independent, leaving Neil Hamilton as the party's last remaining member on the Assembly.[25]
2 January 2020	Nick Ramsay	Suspended		Conservative	Monmouth		Independent	Arrested on 1 January 2020 and suspended from the Conservative group the following day.[26] He was later readmitted.
16 June 2020	Mohammad Asghar	Death		Conservative	South Wales East		Conservative	Died on 16 June 2020 and was replaced by Laura Ann Jones.[27]
24 June 2020	Gareth Bennett	CD		Independent	South Wales Central		Abolish	Joined the Abolish the Welsh Assembly Party on 24 June 2020.[28]
15 July 2020	Nick Ramsay	Re-admitted		Independent	Monmouth		Conservative	Readmitted having been arrested on 1 January 2020 and suspended from the Conservative group the following day.[29]
18 August 2020	Caroline Jones	CD		Brexit Party	South Wales West		Independent	Left Brexit Party and sits as Independent member from 18 August 2020 due to the newly adopted anti-devolution stance the Party had adopted.[30]
16 October 2020	Mandy Jones	CD		Brexit Party	North Wales		Independent	Jones and Rowlands started a new independent group in the Senedd, Independent Alliance for Reform with Caroline Jones, focusing on reform rather than abolition.[31]
16 October 2020	David Rowlands	CD		Brexit Party	South Wales East		Independent
19 October 2020	Mark Reckless	CD		Brexit Party	South Wales East		Abolish	Joined the Abolish the Welsh Assembly Party on 19 October 2020.[32]
19 January 2021	Alun Davies	Suspended		Labour	Blaenau Gwent		Independent	Suspended pending investigation after allegedly being involved in alcohol drinking on the Senedd estate, that could have broken COVID restrictions.[33] He was later re-admitted.[34]
23 February 2021		Re-admitted		Independent	Blaenau Gwent		Labour
29 March 2021	Nick Ramsay	CD		Conservative	Monmouth		Independent	Resigned to stand as independent ahead of forthcoming election.[35]

CD=Changed designation

Senedd members by party prior to 2021 election (5th Senedd)

Siambr diagram prior to the 2021 election.

Members by party

Party		Senedd leader	Name	Constituency or region
	Labour (29)	Mark Drakeford	Mick Antoniw	Pontypridd
			Hannah Blythyn	Delyn
			Dawn Bowden	Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney
			Jayne Bryant	Newport West
			Hefin David	Caerphilly
			Alun Davies	Blaenau Gwent
			Mark Drakeford	Cardiff West
			Rebecca Evans	Gower
			Vaughan Gething	Cardiff South and Penarth
			John Griffiths	Newport East
			Lesley Griffiths	Wrexham
			Mike Hedges	Swansea East
			Vikki Howells	Cynon Valley
			Jane Hutt	Vale of Glamorgan
			Huw Irranca-Davies	Ogmore
			Julie James	Swansea West
			Ann Jones	Vale of Clwyd
			Carwyn Jones	Bridgend
			Jeremy Miles	Neath
			Baroness Eluned Morgan	Mid and West Wales
			Julie Morgan	Cardiff North
			Lynne Neagle	Torfaen
			Rhianon Passmore	Islwyn
			Jenny Rathbone	Cardiff Central
			David Rees	Aberavon
			Jack Sargeant	Alyn and Deeside
			Ken Skates	Clwyd South
			Lee Waters	Llanelli
			Joyce Watson	Mid and West Wales
	Conservative Party (10)	Andrew R. T. Davies	Laura Anne Jones	South Wales East
			Angela Burns	Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire
			Andrew R. T. Davies	South Wales Central
			Paul Davies	Preseli Pembrokeshire
			Suzy Davies	South Wales West
			Janet Finch-Saunders	Aberconwy
			Russell George	Montgomeryshire
			Mark Isherwood	North Wales
			David Melding	South Wales Central
			Darren Millar	Clwyd West
	Plaid Cymru (10)	Adam Price	Rhun ap Iorwerth	Ynys Môn
			Siân Gwenllian	Arfon
			Llyr Huws Gruffydd	North Wales
			Bethan Sayed	South Wales West
			Elin Jones	Ceredigion
			Helen Mary Jones	Mid and West Wales
			Delyth Jewell	South Wales East
			Dai Lloyd	South Wales West
			Adam Price	Carmarthen East and Dinefwr
			Leanne Wood	Rhondda
	Abolish the Welsh Assembly Party (2)	Richard Suchorzewski	Gareth Bennett	South Wales Central
			Mark Reckless	South Wales East
	Liberal Democrats (1)	Kirsty Williams	Kirsty Williams	Brecon and Radnorshire
	UKIP (1)	Neil Hamilton	Neil Hamilton	Mid and West Wales
	Propel (1)	Neil McEvoy	Neil McEvoy	South Wales Central
	Independent (3)	N/A	Michelle Brown	North Wales
			Dafydd Elis-Thomas	Dwyfor Meirionnydd
			Nick Ramsay	Monmouth
	Group: Independent Alliance for Reform (3)	Caroline Jones	Caroline Jones	South Wales West
			David Rowlands	South Wales East
			Mandy Jones	North Wales

Senedd members elected by constituency and region prior to 2021 election (5th Senedd)

Constituency members

Seat	Member	Portrait	Party		First elected
Aberavon	David Rees			Labour	2011
Aberconwy	Janet Finch-Saunders			Conservative	2011
Alyn and Deeside	Jack Sargeant			Labour	2018
Arfon	Siân Gwenllian			Plaid Cymru	2016
Blaenau Gwent	Alun Davies			Labour	2007
Brecon and Radnorshire	Kirsty Williams			Liberal Democrats	1999
Bridgend	Carwyn Jones			Labour	1999
Caerphilly	Hefin David			Labour	2016
Cardiff Central	Jenny Rathbone			Labour	2011
Cardiff North	Julie Morgan			Labour	2011
Cardiff South and Penarth	Vaughan Gething			Labour	2011
Cardiff West	Mark Drakeford			Labour	2011
Carmarthen East and Dinefwr	Adam Price			Plaid Cymru	2016
Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire	Angela Burns			Conservative	2007
Ceredigion	Elin Jones			Plaid Cymru	1999
Clwyd South	Ken Skates			Labour	2011
Clwyd West	Darren Millar			Conservative	2007
Cynon Valley	Vikki Howells			Labour	2016
Delyn	Hannah Blythyn			Labour	2016
Dwyfor Meirionnydd	Dafydd Elis-Thomas			Independent	1999
Gower	Rebecca Evans			Labour	2011
Islwyn	Rhianon Passmore			Labour	2016
Llanelli	Lee Waters			Labour	2016
Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney	Dawn Bowden			Labour	2016
Monmouth	Nick Ramsay			Independent	2007
Montgomeryshire	Russell George			Conservative	2011
Neath	Jeremy Miles			Labour	2016
Newport East	John Griffiths			Labour	1999
Newport West	Jayne Bryant			Labour	2016
Ogmore	Huw Irranca-Davies			Labour	2016
Pontypridd	Mick Antoniw			Labour	2011
Preseli Pembrokeshire	Paul Davies			Conservative	2007
Rhondda	Leanne Wood			Plaid Cymru	2003
Swansea East	Mike Hedges			Labour	2011
Swansea West	Julie James			Labour	2011
Torfaen	Lynne Neagle			Labour	1999
Vale of Clwyd	Ann Jones			Labour	1999
Vale of Glamorgan	Jane Hutt			Labour	1999
Wrexham	Lesley Griffiths			Labour	2007
Ynys Môn	Rhun ap Iorwerth			Plaid Cymru	2013

Regional members

Region	Member	Portrait	Party		First elected
Mid and West Wales	Neil Hamilton			UKIP	2016
	Eluned Morgan			Labour	2016
	Helen Mary Jones			Plaid Cymru	2018
	Joyce Watson			Labour	2007
North Wales	Michelle Brown			Independent	2016
	Mandy Jones			Independent Alliance for Reform	2017
	Llŷr Gruffydd			Plaid Cymru	2011
	Mark Isherwood			Conservative	2003
South Wales Central	Gareth Bennett			Abolish the Welsh Assembly Party	2016
	Andrew R. T. Davies			Conservative	2007
	Neil McEvoy			Propel	2016
	David Melding			Conservative	1999
South Wales East	Laura Anne Jones			Conservative	2003
	Delyth Jewell			Plaid Cymru	2018
	Mark Reckless			Abolish the Welsh Assembly Party	2016
	David Rowlands			Independent Alliance for Reform	2016
South Wales West	Suzy Davies			Conservative	2011
	Bethan Jenkins			Plaid Cymru	2007
	Caroline Jones			Independent Alliance for Reform	2016
	Dai Lloyd			Plaid Cymru	2016

See also

• Third Jones ministry
• First Drakeford government
• 2016 National Assembly for Wales election
• 1999 National Assembly for Wales election and Members of the 1st National Assembly for Wales
• 2003 National Assembly for Wales election and Members of the 2nd National Assembly for Wales
• 2007 National Assembly for Wales election and Members of the 3rd National Assembly for Wales
• 2011 National Assembly for Wales election and Members of the 4th National Assembly for Wales
• 2016 National Assembly for Wales election and Members of the 5th National Assembly for Wales
• 2021 Senedd election and Members of the 6th Senedd
• List of by-elections to Senedd Cymru and List of elections to the Senedd
• Senedd constituencies and electoral regions