People would be given a vote on whether to remove badly behaving Senedd members from office between elections under newly unveiled plans.

The Senedd’s standards committee published a report recommending a system similar to Westminster’s “recall” of MPs which was enacted in 2015 following the expenses scandal.

Under the plans, from May 2026, voters would be asked if they want to retain a politician who committed a “serious” breach of the Senedd’s code of conduct.

With Wales moving to a fully proportional system at the next election, with no by-elections held, the next candidate on a party’s list would automatically replace an ousted politician.

During the inquiry, the Electoral Reform Society raised concerns about political parties retaining seats – pointing out that most change hands in by-elections triggered by recall.

Voters would only get a say if recall was recommended by the committee and signed off by a majority of the Senedd despite concerns about politicians “marking their own homework”.

The committee recommended a “remove or replace” vote then be held on a single day, akin to a by-election, with postal and proxy voting.

No threshold would be set for turnout and the electorate would get six weeks’ notice of a ballot.

Wales would adopt a one-stage process unlike in Westminster – where a petition is opened for six weeks and a 10 per cent threshold must be met to vacate a seat, triggering a by-election.

To avoid confusion between the two systems, the committee recommended referring to the proposed Welsh process as a “remove or replace ballot” rather than recall.

And, to give themselves more flexibility, Senedd members stopped short of recommending the triggers for such a vote be placed in legislation.

While an MP suspended for 10 days or more could face recall, the committee suggested a threshold more than twice as long at about 21 days for Senedd members.

The committee also suggested a prison sentence, whether custodial or suspended, of 12 months or less as a trigger in line with Westminster.

For longer sentences, Senedd members and MPs are already automatically disqualified.

Under the proposed system, a seat vacated by a politician who had left a party would be filled by a candidate on their original party’s list.

Hannah Blythyn, who chairs the standards committee, said: “For our parliament to function well, the public must have confidence in members…. politicians must act with decency and integrity and if they fail to do so, they should be accountable to the public for their actions.

“It’s important we create a robust system that means that MSs are fully answerable to the people of Wales.

“The code of conduct that MSs are expected to abide by must be respected.

“That is why we believe that it is right for the Senedd to introduce a system where the public have the option of removing MSs who seriously breach the code.

“We’re calling on the Welsh Government to implement our recommendations and bring forward legislation to strengthen our system and reinforce public confidence.”