Jayne Bryant MS, Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Members will wish to be aware that the Senedd Cymru (Disqualification) Order 2025, which was agreed by the Senedd on 21 October, was made by the Privy Council on 12 November and came into force on 13 November.
The Order can be found at the following link: The Senedd Cymru (Disqualification) Order 2025
The Senedd Cymru (Disqualification) Order 2025 lists offices and memberships of bodies that disqualify their holders from being a Member of the Senedd (but not from being a candidate to be a Member of the Senedd). The offices are described in the Schedule to the Order.
Additional disqualifying offices, together with categories of person disqualified from being a Member, or a candidate to be a Member, of the Senedd, are prescribed by section 16 of, and Schedule 1A to, the Government of Wales Act 2006. The Order should be read with those provisions.
This Order will revoke and replace the Senedd Cymru (Disqualification) Order 2020 with effect from an election at which the poll is held on or after 6 April 2026.
The Electoral Commission will be taking into account the Senedd Cymru (Disqualification) Order 2025 in its guidance to candidates prior to the May 2026 Senedd elections. It will however also be important that all political parties take steps to ensure that their prospective candidates are fully aware of the Order.