Caerphilly County Borough Council

County Borough Councillor Ken James

16th June 2003
The Richard Commission
I wish to make the following personal statement regarding the Commission's enquiry into the National Assembly of Wales
1.  The current Alternative Member System is totally undemocratic.  310,658 Labour votes were thrown away and were totally disenfranchised.  Why were these votes not respected and consequently treated with contempt?  In a deomocratic society surely every vote should be apportioned equal value, the 36.6% vote freely assigned to Labour shows a nil recognition whereas those cast for the other parties show returns far exceeding their share of the vote.  If the system was administered democratically and proportionally the second vote ought to have been:-
Labour 36.6% 310,515 votes ............ 7 seats
Plaid Cymru 19.7% 167,653 votes ............ 4 seats
Conservatives 19.2% 162,725 votes ............. 3 seats
Liberal Democrats 12.7% 108,013 votes ............. 2 seats
Others
(to highest returning "others", in vote).		 11.9% 100,503 votes ............. 2 seats
This would have given a political balance of -
Labour 37
Plaid Cymru 9
Conservaties 5
Liberal Democrats 6
Others 3
This would have DEMOCRATICALLY respected the way the electorate cast their votes.
The second seats, (if they are really necessary), must be apportioned NATIONALLY not regionally so that they can reflect the proportion of votes cast for each political party.  This would have accurately reflected the votes cast and the wishes of the voting electorate.
The electoral system is democratically flawed if it allows individuals to be rejected by their constituency and yet returned by an alternative vote method.
Prospective members should not be permitted to stand for constituency and regional seats.  I totally endorse the House of Commons Early Day Motion 1197.
It must be remembered that the mandate for setting up the Assembly was won on the narrowest of margins; in fact, the vast majority of the Principality chose not to vote; therefore, the Assembly's powers should remain unchanged and be a matter for the national Labour Party, Labour groups and the people of Wales in a General Election and Referendum.
It remains a matter of grave concern that a third of the Assembly's members have no direct accountability to voters.  Perhaps this demonstrates that THE TRUE DEMOCRATIC SYSTEM IS FIRST PAST THE POST whereby the electorate can identify with their chosen candidate and that proportional representation undermines the democratic link between member and his or her constituents.  I would therefore like to support the call for the abolition of the top up list for Welsh Assembly elections.  If it has to remain, a fairer, more transparent method must be used that does not discard honestly won Labour votes and is based, as I stated previously on a Wales wide basis not "shared" around regions.
Labour is now in power both at Westminster and Wales.   MP's and AM's must exercise that power entrusted to them by the people and respect the wishes of the electorate by giving them the system they voted for, a Labour Government both at Westminster and Cardiff.  The votes show that the vast majority of the voting electorate in Wales wanted a Labour administration, not a weak, unstable, "mix and match", that is delivered by this type of PR system.  The system MUST be changed.
Yours sincerely
Cllr Ken James