Campaigners called for voters to be given a say over who replaces Senedd politicians booted out of office for bad behaviour under a proposed system of recall.
Jessica Blair, director of the Electoral Reform Society (ERS) Cymru, supported calls for a recall system to allow voters to remove misbehaving politicians between elections.
But Ms Blair said voters should have a say over the replacement, warning an element of personal accountability will be lost with the Senedd’s new “closed-list” electoral system.
From 2026, people will vote for parties rather than individuals as Wales ditches first past the post in favour of a full form of proportional representation, with no by-elections being held.
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Ms Blair said: “This idea of replacing someone with the next person on the list, it could be … from the voters’ perspective … seen as a party being rewarded for bad behaviour.”
Giving evidence to the Senedd’s standards committee, she added: “This shouldn’t be necessarily about parties keeping control, it should be about voters having their say.”
Labour’s Mick Antoniw pointed out it is the person, not the party, that has transgressed, but Ms Blair said it “could also reflect badly on the party or the way a party’s handled it.”