Democracy and Boundary Commission Cymru etc. Act 2013

[F1 49C Constituency rules E+W

(1) The electorate for each Senedd constituency must be—

(a) no less than 90% of the electoral quota, and

(b) no more than 110% of the electoral quota.

(2) When considering during a Senedd constituency boundary review whether there should be changes to the Senedd constituencies, and what those changes should be—

(a) the Commission may have regard to—

(i) local government boundaries that exist or are prospective on the review date;

(ii) special geographical considerations, including in particular the size, shape and accessibility of a proposed or existing Senedd constituency;

(iii) any local ties (including local ties connected to the use of the Welsh language) that would be broken by such changes; but

(b) in any event the Commission must—

(i) seek to minimise the amount of change to the Senedd constituencies that exist on the review date, and

(ii) have regard to the inconveniences caused by making changes to the Senedd constituencies.

(3) For the purposes of subsection (1)—

(a) the electorate is the total number of local government electors, and

(b) the electoral quota is the electorate of Wales divided by 16 (which is the number of Senedd constituencies), and

for the purposes of paragraph (a), a local government elector is a person registered in the relevant version of the register of local government electors at an address within a Senedd constituency.

(4) The relevant version of the register of local government electors is the version that is, on the review date, the most recent version published under section 13(1)(a) of the Representation of the People Act 1983 (c. ‍2).

(5) In the case of a local government boundary that is prospective on the review date, it is that boundary (rather than any existing boundary that it replaces) that must be taken into account under subsection (2)(a)(i).

(6) A local government boundary is “prospective” on the review date if, on that date—

(a) it is specified in a provision of—

(i) primary legislation, or

(ii) an instrument made under primary legislation, and

(b) the provision specifying the boundary is not yet in force for all purposes.

(7) In subsection (6), “primary legislation” means—

(a) an Act enacted under Part 4 of the Government of Wales Act 2006 (c. 32);

(b) a Measure enacted under Part 3 of that Act;

(c) an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.]

Textual Amendments

F1 Pt. 3A inserted (24.8.2024) by Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Act 2024 (asc 4), s. 25(2)(c), Sch. 3 para. 1 (with Sch. 3 para. 3)