The 18 politicians who have left the Senedd
THERE’S a new look to the Senedd as it meets again today.
Former First Minister Carwyn Jones has gone, as has Education Minister Kirsty Williams, and former Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood won’t be taking her seat again either after being defeated in Rhondda.
None of the seven Ukip representatives appointed in 2016 was reelected.
But here are those who chose not to stand again, or who weren’t reelected.
GARETH BENNETT
- INDEPENDENT, SOUTH WALES CENTRAL
Elected in 2016, Mr Bennett started in 2016 as Ukip AM for South Wales Central and ended the Senedd term as an MS for Abolish the Welsh Assembly Party. He was due to be their candidate in Cynon Valley but he left the party in April and stood as an Independent.
Mr Bennett had a spell as leader of the Ukip group in the Senedd and campaigned to become Ukip’s leader when Gerard Batten stood down but later withdrew his bid.
He left Ukip and initially sat as an Independent before announcing he would join Abolish the Welsh Assembly Party, becoming their firstever Member of the Senedd, but then left that party too during the election campaign.
He stood as an Independent in Cynon Valley and got 278 votes, coming in last place.
MICHELLE BROWN
- INDEPENDENT, NORTH WALES
Ms Brown was elected on the North Wales list for Ukip before resigning from the party in March 2019 and has since stood as an Independent. Her resignation left Ukip with three AMs in the Senedd.
The North Wales AM said she could no longer stomach Ukip, attacking its leader Gerard Batten’s association with far-right figure Tommy Robinson.
In the 2021 election she stood as an independent in the North Wales region but was not elected.
ANGELA BURNS
- CONSERVATIVE, CARMARTHEN WEST AND SOUTH PEMBROKESHIRE
First elected to the Senedd in 2007 with a majority of under 100, she served as Shadow Environment Minister, Shadow Transport Minister and Shadow Finance Minister in the Third Assembly as well as chairing the Assembly’s Finance Committee.
In the fourth Assembly she was Shadow Education Minister; was part of the Children, Young People and Education Committee, and was appointed as one of the Assembly Commissioners – which occasionally led to her deputising for the Presiding Officer in the Chamber.
After the 2016 election she was appointed as a member of the Assembly’s Health and Social Care Committee and given the role of the Welsh Conservatives’ spokesman on Health and Social Services.
She spoke out about her own health battles after suffering sepsis. In her final speech Mrs Burns paid tribute to the “awkward squad, the backbenchers, the individuals with strong views” for making the Senedd democratic.
SUZY DAVIES
- CONSERVATIVE, SOUTH WALES WEST
After a career in arts marketing and management, Suzy qualified as a solicitor, working in a number of fields from vulnerable families to tax planning.
She was first elected to the Senedd in 2007.
Mrs Davies has said she has left the Senedd, and her Twitter profile reads “former Welsh Conservative AM”.
She used her final speech in the Senedd to tell her own party it needed to do more for equal representation.
“All parties, especially mine, need to get their act together on equal representation, and I’ve no hesitation either in saying that even though it really has been often a joy and always a privilege working with you all, it has been working with a greater number of women than in any parliament I can call to mind that makes the non-stop demands and personal sacrifices worth it, because it is a Parliament where an ordinary woman like me can believe she belongs and where every citizen can see she belongs, so my heartfelt thanks for the privilege.”
Her son, Calum, was, however, the Conservative candidate in Cardiff Central.
NEIL HAMILTON
- UKIP, MID AND WEST WALES
Former Conservative MP Neil Hamilton spent five years as MS for Mid and West Wales.
He was elected as one of the seven Ukip representatives in 2016 and was the only one to remain in the party by the time the fifth Senedd ended after various spats with the other elected members and power struggles.
He lived in Wiltshire for his spell as an MS, and racked up thousands of pounds in travel expenses. He was the only one of the 2016 cohort who admitted living in England, but a campaign appeared before the 2021 election trying to stop people living in England being Welsh MSs.
During his tenure he hit the headlines for denying climate change and has employed his wife, Christine, during his term.
ANN JONES
- LABOUR, VALE OF CLWYD
Ann Jones was first elected in 1999 and had been elected in every Senedd since.
She worked for nearly 30 years in fire control rooms in north Wales and Merseyside until her election to the National Assembly for Wales in 1999.
She was the first backbench member to pass legislation to have mandatory sprinklers fitted in all new-build homes.
She also served as Deputy Presiding Officer of the National Assembly for Wales.
In her last speech she reminisced about the early days of the Senedd debating the “Beef Bones (Amendment) (Wales) Regulations, the Plant Health (Amendment) (Wales) Order, and everyone’s favourite at that time the Potatoes Originating in Egypt (Amendment) (Wales) Regulations”.
Vale of Clwyd switched to Conservative in the 2021 election.
CAROLINE JONES
- INDEPENDENT, SOUTH WALES WEST
Elected for Ukip, she then became an Independent before joining the Brexit Party and going back to being an Independent (Independent Alliance for Reform Group).
She had previously been a Conservative party member and stood for election for them in the General Election in 2015.