| 5th Assembly/Senedd | |
| Background Color: |
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| Before: | 4th Assembly |
| After: | 6th Senedd |
| Body: | National Assembly for Wales (Senedd from 2020) |
| Jurisdiction: | Wales, United Kingdom |
| Meeting Place: | Senedd building, Cardiff |
| Election: | 2016 National Assembly for Wales election |
| Government: | Third Jones government (2016–18) First Drakeford government (2018–21) |
| Opposition: | Shadow Cabinet of Leanne Wood (2016) Vacant (2016–17) Second Shadow Cabinet of Andrew R. T. Davies (2017–18) Shadow Cabinet of Paul Davies (2018–21) Third Shadow Cabinet of Andrew RT Davies (2021) |
| Membership1: | 60 |
| Chamber1 Leader1 Type: | Llywydd (presiding officer) |
| Chamber1 Leader1: | Rosemary Butler (2016) Elin Jones (2016–21) |
| Chamber1 Leader2 Type: | First Minister |
| Chamber1 Leader2: | Carwyn Jones (2016–18) Mark Drakeford (2018–21) |
This is a list of Assembly Members (AMs; cy|Aelodau'r Cynulliad, Welsh: ACau) elected to the fifth National Assembly for Wales at the 2016 election. In May 2020, the representatives were renamed to Members of the Senedd (MSs; cy|link=no|Aelodau o'r Senedd; Welsh: ASau) in the fifth Senedd, they would be known as the fifth Senedd for the remainder of their term. From the 2021 election members would be elected under this new title of Senedd. There are a total of 60 members elected, 40 were elected from first past the post constituencies with a further 20 members being returned from five regions, each electing four AMs through mixed member proportional representation. In between elections, members of the legislature may not necessarily be of the same party or the same candidate elected in 2016.
| Party | 2016 election ! | Prior to 2021 election | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| • | 29 | 29 | ||
| 12 | 10 | |||
| 11 | 10 | |||
| N/A | 2 | |||
| • | 1 | 1 | ||
| 7 | 1 | |||
| N/A | 1 | |||
| 0 | 3 | |||
| N/A | 3 | |||
| Total | 60 | 60 | ||
The May 2016 election saw the biggest ever change in the Assembly's composition. Labour dropped from 30 to 29 seats, and Plaid Cymru moved from 11 to 12 seats. The Conservatives lost 3 seats, moving from 14 seats to 11, while the Liberal Democrats dropped from 5 to 1 seat. UKIP, who had not previously had representation, gained seven AMs.
In the initial ballot for First Minister, Plaid Cymru's Leanne Wood and Labour's Carwyn Jones each gained 29 votes; a week of talks were then held. A document was produced after Plaid Cymru–Labour talks entitled "Moving Wales Forward", which detailed policy concessions in exchange for allowing Carwyn Jones to become First Minister. Labour appointed Kirsty Williams as Education Secretary, so that the minority government was a coalition between Welsh Labour and the Welsh Liberal Democrats. Plaid Cymru, the Conservatives and UKIP formed opposition groups.
In 2018, Mark Drakeford was elected to the leadership of the Welsh Labour Party and became first minister, leading a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats and an independent member.
In May 2020, the representatives were renamed to Members of the Senedd in the fifth Senedd, they would be known by this title for the remainder of their term. From the 2021 election members would be elected under this new title.
| width=120px | Date | width=140px | Member | Reason for change | Original designation | Constituency/Region | New designation | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 August 2016 | Nathan Gill | CD | North Wales | Left the Assembly group.[1] He remained a member of the party and its leader in Wales, until Neil Hamilton was made Wales leader in September 2016.[2] | ||||||
| 14 October 2016 | CD | Dwyfor Meirionnydd | Quit the Plaid Cymru group on 14 October 2016. As a result of the defection, Leanne Wood lost the title of leader of the opposition. Two months later, he pledged to back the Welsh Labour-led Government, giving the new government an overall majority in the Welsh Assembly.[3] [4] | |||||||
| 19 March 2018 | Neil McEvoy | Suspended | South Wales Central | Was suspended by the Plaid Cymru group after a tribunal found him guilty of bullying in his other role as a councillor for Cardiff. He was later expelled from Plaid Cymru.[5] In February 2020 he announced that he was forming a new political party, the Welsh National Party, and that he had registered the name with the Electoral Commission. The launch of the party was planned for April 2020.[6] [7] | ||||||
| 6 April 2017 | Mark Reckless | CD | South Wales East | Upon leaving, he said, "I leave UKIP positively, having achieved our joint aim, a successful referendum to leave the EU".[8] [9] | ||||||
| 3 November 2017 | Carl Sargeant | Suspended | Alyn and Deeside | Sargeant was suspended from Welsh Labour following allegations about his personal conduct.[10] | ||||||
| 7 November 2017 - 6 February 2018 | Carl Sargeant | Death | Alyn and Deeside | On 7 November 2017, Sargeant was found dead.[11] A by-election was held in his former constituency of Alyn and Deeside on 6 February 2018 to choose a successor; this was won by the Labour candidate, his son, Jack.[12] | ||||||
| 27 December 2017 | Nathan Gill | Resigned | North Wales | On 27 December 2017 it was announced that he had resigned as an AM.[13] As 3rd on UKIP's list for the North Wales region, Mandy Jones was sworn in as a Member on 29 December 2017.[14] On 9 January UKIP Wales announced that she would not be joining the UKIP group in the Assembly, due to employing members of other parties in her office.[15] | ||||||
| 25 July 2018 | Simon Thomas | Resigned | Mid and West Wales | Thomas resigned following his arrest for possession of indecent images.[16] Helen Mary Jones replaced Thomas as a Member in August 2018.[17] | ||||||
| 12 September 2018 | CD | South Wales West | Resigned as a member of UKIP and from UKIP's group on 12 September 2018.[18] | |||||||
| 20 November 2018 | Suspended | Cardiff Central | Suspended over remarks about Jewish people.[19] She was later re-admitted.[20] | |||||||
| 9 January 2019 | Re-admitted | Cardiff Central | ||||||||
| 11 January 2019 | Steffan Lewis | Death | South Wales East | Died of bowel cancer on 11 January 2019 and was replaced by Delyth Jewell.[21] | ||||||
| 26 March 2019 | Michelle Brown | CD | North Wales | Left the UKIP group in March 2019, to sit as an independent.[22] | ||||||
| 14 April 2019 | Mark Reckless | CD | South Wales East | On 14 April 2019, Reckless left the Conservative Party Group over the party's failure to deliver Brexit. He then sat as an independent member.[23] | ||||||
| 15 May 2019 | Mark Reckless | CD | South Wales East | Reckless joined the new Brexit Party group in May 2019.[24] | ||||||
| 10 November 2019 | Gareth Bennett | CD | South Wales Central | Left the UKIP group in November 2019 to sit as an independent, leaving Neil Hamilton as the party's last remaining member on the Assembly.[25] | ||||||
| 2 January 2020 | Nick Ramsay | Suspended | Monmouth | Arrested on 1 January 2020 and suspended from the Conservative group the following day.[26] He was later readmitted. | ||||||
| 16 June 2020 | Mohammad Asghar | Death | South Wales East | Died on 16 June 2020 and was replaced by Laura Ann Jones.[27] | ||||||
| 24 June 2020 | Gareth Bennett | CD | South Wales Central | Joined the Abolish the Welsh Assembly Party on 24 June 2020.[28] | ||||||
| 15 July 2020 | Nick Ramsay | Re-admitted | Monmouth | Readmitted having been arrested on 1 January 2020 and suspended from the Conservative group the following day.[29] | ||||||
| 18 August 2020 | CD | South Wales West | Left Brexit Party and sits as Independent member from 18 August 2020 due to the newly adopted anti-devolution stance the Party had adopted.[30] | |||||||
| 16 October 2020 | Mandy Jones | CD | North Wales | Jones and Rowlands started a new independent group in the Senedd, Independent Alliance for Reform with Caroline Jones, focusing on reform rather than abolition.[31] | ||||||
| 16 October 2020 | David Rowlands | CD | South Wales East | |||||||
| 19 October 2020 | Mark Reckless | CD | South Wales East | Joined the Abolish the Welsh Assembly Party on 19 October 2020.[32] | ||||||
| 19 January 2021 | Alun Davies | Suspended | Blaenau Gwent | Suspended pending investigation after allegedly being involved in alcohol drinking on the Senedd estate, that could have broken COVID restrictions.[33] He was later re-admitted.[34] | ||||||
| 23 February 2021 | Re-admitted | Blaenau Gwent | ||||||||
| 29 March 2021 | Nick Ramsay | CD | Monmouth | Resigned to stand as independent ahead of forthcoming election.[35] | ||||||
CD=Changed designation