Member of the Senedd

For current members of the Senedd, see 6th Senedd. For all of them, see List of members of the Senedd.

A member of the Senedd (MS; plural: MSs; Welsh: aelod o'r Senedd; AS, plural: ASau), also known as a member of the Welsh Parliament,^[a] is a representative elected to the Senedd (Welsh Parliament; Welsh: Senedd Cymru). There are sixty members, with forty members chosen to represent individual Senedd constituencies, and twenty to represent the five electoral regions of the Senedd in Wales.

Member of the Senedd
Aelod o'r Senedd (Welsh)
Incumbent 6th Senedd since 2021 election
Type	Member of Parliament
Abbreviation	MS (plural: MSs); (Welsh: AS, plural: ASau)
Member of	the Senedd
Residence	Senedd building
Seat	List of constituencies and electoral regions
Term length	5 years
Constituting instrument	Government of Wales Act 1998
Inaugural holder	1st National Assembly
Formation	1999
Unofficial names	Member of the Welsh Parliament; Welsh Parliament Member; Assembly Member (AM; 1999—2020)
Salary	£67,920

Diagram showing the current party affiliation of the 60 members of the Senedd as of August 2025. Colours below, left to right:

  Labour: 29 seats

  Conservative: 14 seats

  Plaid Cymru: 12 seats

  Liberal Democrat: 1 seat

  Reform UK: 1 seat

  Independent: 2 seats

  Vacant: 1 seat

Each person in Wales is represented by five MSs: one for their local constituency (encompassing their local area where they reside), and another four covering their electoral region (a large grouping of constituencies). Wales's five electoral regions are Mid and West Wales, North Wales, South Wales Central, South Wales East and South Wales West.^[1]

A holder of this office was formerly known as an assembly member (AM; plural: AMs; Welsh: aelodau'r cynulliad; AC, plural: ACau), under the legislature's former name, the National Assembly for Wales, from its inception in 1999 until 2020 when it adopted its current names, Welsh Parliament, and Senedd Cymru, simply referred to as Senedd in both English and Welsh.^[2][3]

Since 2011, members are elected for a five-year term of office under an additional member system, in which 40 MSs represent smaller geographical divisions known as "constituencies" and are elected by first-past-the-post voting, and 20 MSs represent five "electoral regions" using the D'Hondt method of proportional representation. Typically, the largest party holding the largest number of MSs in the Senedd forms the Welsh Government, and in the event of not securing a majority of MSs, the largest party has first rights to begin coalition talks with other smaller parties. Prior to 2011, they held four-year terms, with some MSs calling for a return of four-year terms from the current five.^[4] From the next Senedd election, due in 2026, the size of the Senedd will increase to 96.^[5][6]

Methods of election

MSs are elected in one of two ways:^[7]

1. First-past-the-post constituency or
2. Regional additional-member

Forty are elected as constituency MSs and twenty are elected as additional members, four from each of five regional groups of constituencies. This additional member system produces a form of proportional representation for each region.

Elections

All MSs positions become simultaneously vacant for elections held on a five-year cycle. If a vacancy arises at another time, due to death or resignation, it may be filled in one of two ways, depending on whether the vacancy is for a first-past-the-post constituency MS or for an additional-member MS.

A constituency vacancy may be filled by a by-election. An additional member vacancy may be filled by the next available candidate on the relevant party list.

Renaming

Holders of this office were first called an "Assembly Member" (Welsh: Aelod Cynulliad), abbreviated to "AM" in English (plural: AMs; or in Welsh: AC, plural: ACau), under the legislature's then name, the National Assembly for Wales, from its inception in 1999.^[2][3]

In June 2018, the Assembly Commission held a public consultation into a potential name change, with the commission favouring the title "Welsh Parliament Member", abbreviated to "WPM", in line with the existing name.^[8] The public consultation showed the most supported option was "Member of the Welsh Parliament" (MWP) at 30%, followed by "Member of the Senedd" (MS) on 28.4%, and the commission's preferred option on 11.1%.^[9] "Member of the Welsh Parliament", abbreviated to MWP, raised concerns from some AMs, over potential ridicle. Their concerns were that the abbreviation "MWP" was too close to Welsh words "twp" ('daft') and "pwp" ('poo'), or sounding similar to a Welsh pronunciation of "muppet".^[8] Elin Jones, Presiding Officer of National Assembly for Wales, called for the legislature to be called just the "Senedd", leading to members being called a "Member of the Senedd" as a way to address the concerns. Although this raised its own concerns that the corresponding Welsh name "Aelod o'r Senedd" would have the same Welsh abbreviation as "Aelodau Seneddol" for Members of Parliament to the UK Parliament.^[10]

In 2020, the legislature was renamed following the ratification of the Senedd and Elections (Wales) Act 2020, which renamed the legislature as the "Welsh Parliament" in English, and "Senedd Cymru" in Welsh.^[2][3] Holders of the office would instead be called a "Member of the Senedd", abbreviated to "MS", or in Welsh, Aelod o'r Senedd (AS).^[11] While "Member(s) of the Welsh Parliament" has also been used.^[12][13][14]

See also

• List of members of the Senedd
• List of female members of the Senedd
• List of Plaid Cymru MSs
• Members of the 1st National Assembly for Wales
• Members of the 2nd National Assembly for Wales
• Members of the 3rd National Assembly for Wales
• Members of the 4th National Assembly for Wales
• Members of the 5th National Assembly for Wales (or 5th Senedd)
• Members of the 6th Senedd
• 2016 National Assembly for Wales election
• 2021 Senedd election
• Senedd constituencies and electoral regions
• Member of Parliament
• Member of the Legislative Assembly (Northern Ireland)
• Member of the Scottish Parliament

Notes

1. as also used in English-language media and by members, using the legislature's official English name, the "Welsh Parliament".