Changes ahead for the Senedd by 2026

Eluned Morgan, the First Minster for Wales, has announced her Cabinet and her Deputy Huw Irranca-Davies remains Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs. This will be welcomed by many in the agricultural sector as he has demonstrated a willingness to listen to concerns and, in some cases, has implemented changes. We wait patiently for others in our sector to be afforded the same attention.

These will be an important couple of years for Welsh Labour under the leadership of the first female First Minister, Baroness Eluned Morgan. We are less than 24 months away from the next Senedd election, an election that will see many changes.

From 2026 there will be ninety six elected politicians instead of the sixty we have now. Voters will select the party they want to see in power rather than the person. Constituencies are likely to change, too. Currently there are a total of forty constituencies. There are proposals to reduce these to just sixteen, making them much, much larger areas, with each having six Senedd Members representing it. One proposed constituency will extend from the Lleyn Peninsula across to the Shropshire border. Some may argue that this is vast, varied country and this proposal is wholly unsuitable.

Some of these constituencies, classed as rural seats in previous years such as Monmouth, will become shared with urban areas under the proposals. Some are questioning whether rural Wales would be fairly represented. The Countryside Alliance has a steadfast record calling for policies to be rural-proofed yet, as many of you will know, rural Wales tends to be left behind. Certainly demographics and heritage are often not accounted for when policies are created.

A consultation on the proposed constituency changes is running currently. Please do follow the link here and have your say.

The initial proposals and boundary maps can be viewed here and you can respond to the consultation, which closes on the 30^th of September, using this portal.