25Presiding Officer etc.
(1)The Assembly must, at its first meeting following a general election, elect from among the Assembly members—
(a)a presiding officer (referred to in this Act as “the Presiding Officer”), and
(b)a deputy presiding officer (referred to in this Act as “the Deputy Presiding Officer”).
(2)The person elected under paragraph (a) of subsection (1) is to be known as the Presiding Officer or by such other title as the standing orders may provide; and the person elected under paragraph (b) of that subsection is to be known as the Deputy Presiding Officer or by such other title as the standing orders may provide.
(3)The Presiding Officer holds office until the conclusion of the next election of a Presiding Officer under subsection (1).
(4)The Deputy Presiding Officer holds office until the Assembly is dissolved.
(5)But the Presiding Officer or Deputy Presiding Officer—
(a)may at any time resign,
(b)ceases to hold office on ceasing to be an Assembly member otherwise than by reason of a dissolution, and
(c)may be removed from office by the Assembly.
(6)If the Presiding Officer or the Deputy Presiding Officer ceases to hold office under subsection (5) (or dies), the Assembly must elect a replacement from among the Assembly members.
(7)Subject to subsection (9), the Presiding Officer and the Deputy Presiding Officer must not belong to—
(a)the same political group, or
(b)different political groups both of which are political groups with an executive role.
(8)For the purposes of this Act a political group is a political group with an executive role if the First Minister or one or more of the Welsh Ministers appointed under section 48 belong to it.
(9)The Assembly may resolve that subsection (7) is not to apply for so long as the resolution so provides; but if the motion for the resolution is passed on a vote it is of no effect unless at least two-thirds of the Assembly members voting support it.
(10)The Presiding Officer’s functions may be exercised by the Deputy Presiding Officer if—
(a)the office of Presiding Officer is vacant, or
(b)the Presiding Officer is for any reason unable to act.
(11)The Presiding Officer may (subject to the standing orders) authorise the Deputy Presiding Officer to exercise functions of the Presiding Officer.
(12)The standing orders may include provision for the Presiding Officer’s functions to be exercisable by any person specified in, or determined in accordance with, the standing orders if—
(a)the office of Presiding Officer is vacant or the Presiding Officer is for any reason unable to act, and
(b)the office of Deputy Presiding Officer is vacant or the Deputy Presiding Officer is for any reason unable to act.
(13)The standing orders may include provision as to the participation (including voting) in Assembly proceedings of the Presiding Officer and Deputy Presiding Officer and any person acting by virtue of subsection (12).
(14)The validity of any act of a person as Presiding Officer or Deputy Presiding Officer, or of any person acting by virtue of subsection (12), is not affected by any defect in the person’s appointment by the Assembly.
(15)Subsections (10) to (12) are subject to paragraph 11 of Schedule 2.