4.Part 1 introduces a system for the recall of Members of the Senedd by recall poll. A recall poll is a poll held in a member of the Senedd’s constituency on whether the Member should be removed or retained as a Member of the Senedd. The Part makes provision for—
5.The process of recall is initiated if one of two trigger events, A and B, relating to misconduct by a Member of the Senedd has occurred.
6.Trigger event A is that a Member of the Senedd, after becoming a member of the Senedd is convicted in the United Kingdom of an offence for which the member is sentenced or ordered to be imprisoned or detained (in effect for a period of less than a year, as a sentence of a year or more would lead to automatic disqualification from membership of the Senedd under provisions of the Government of Wales Act 2006).
7.Trigger event B is that the Senedd resolves to submit the Member of the Senedd to a recall poll following a report from the Standards of Conduct Committee recommending submission of the member to a recall poll.
8.After becoming aware that a trigger event has occurred, the Presiding Officer is under a duty to fix a date for a recall poll. The constituency returning officer for the Senedd constituency of the member who is subject to the recall poll must be given a notice of the trigger event by the Presiding Officer and the constituency returning officer will then be under a duty to notify the public of the recall poll. The constituency returning officer is responsible for administering the recall poll in accordance with the requirements of the Act and any regulations made by the Welsh Ministers under section 11.
9.Voters in the recall poll may decide to retain or remove the member. If then result of the poll if that the member should be removed, the member’s seat becomes vacant. The consequences of a vacancy arising as a result of a recall poll under Part 1 of the Act are provided for by section 11 of the Government of Wales Act 2006.
General Overview of the Act Part 1 – Recall of Members of the Senedd