Devolution
Devolution in Wales began with the Government of Wales Act 1998, establishing the National Assembly for Wales.
It gained law-making powers through the 2006 Act and further autonomy through the Wales Act 2014 and Wales Act 2017, leading to the renamed Senedd Cymru (Welsh parliament) in 2020.
The Senedd now oversees devolved areas like health and education.
Welsh government
The Welsh government is the devolved government for Wales.
Led by the first minister, it works across devolved areas that include key areas of public life, such as:
- health
- education
- the environment
Senedd Cymru
The Senedd is the democratically elected body that:
- represents the interests of Wales and its people
- makes laws for Wales
- holds the Welsh government to account
The Senedd has 60 members.
40 members are elected from constituencies using first past the post.
20 are regional members elected using the additional member system (AMS), which uses proportional representation to reflect overall vote share.
To see the infographic about this topic, please refer to the live page.
The law: reserved powers model
Examples of areas that are 'reserved' and not devolved to the Senedd include:
- the single legal jurisdiction of England and Wales, policing, legal aid and prisons
- relations with the European Union (EU)
- defence of the realm
- banking
- immigration
- supply of electricity, oil and gas and nuclear energy
- broadcasting
