ON MY MIND

FOR the voter there is a difference between endorsing a local politician and electing one. Electing is easy – the result of putting a cross by the name or, it seems, flipping a coin. Yet for meaningful selection most people have to vote and we need to know their skills and experience in relation to the councillor job specification.

At this point eyes normally glaze over. When unelected Emlyn Dole said: “It is the will of the people” he meant “usually just under half of them”, and the result tends to be a mix of the competent, the incompetent and the daft.

Then just as you thought there were already enough politicians in post in Wales, the plans were revealed last week for the increase in members of the Senedd by more than a half. Set out by Labour and Plaid and predictably opposed by the Conservatives, the extra 36 seats would bring the Welsh Parliament to 96 and cost about £12m to implement. Because of the Labour/plaid ‘love-in’ it is probably guaranteed to be accepted. However, it should be noted that the Scottish Parliament has 127 members and the Northern Ireland Assembly has 90.

The favoured system, a form of proportional representation according to what is known as the D’hondt method, requires the 96 Senedd members to be spread across 16 constituencies, each electing six members.

Although it is a welcome move away from the Ffos Las model of ‘first past the post’ and favours the nomination of an equal number of men and women, analysts claim that it is the least effective of the proportional representation methods and favours the large parties. The more effective method of the single transferable vote (previously Plaid’s preferred method), whereby votes are cast for individual candidates and not parties, is strangely rejected.

Although I welcome the increase in the number of Senedd members to ensure the highest levels of competency and scrutiny in a democracy, where is the debate about the proposals? I suppose those who cannot make head nor tail of it can toss a coin. Personally, I prefer extra time and penalties.