2026 Senedd election: Video playlist

Right. Gather in Wales — the next Senedd election is changing… a lot.

Think, more politicians, fewer constituencies - we’ll explain that in a minute - and a new way of voting.

So, let’s break it down.

First up, constituencies.

That’s just a fancy word for the areas of Wales that politicians represent.

Right now, Wales has 40 constituencies and 5 regions - or big areas of Wales. That’s being replaced with just 16 HUGE constituencies. Each area will now be represented by 6 Members of the Senedd, or MSs for short.

That means the total number of politicians goes from 60 to 96. More seats, more voices representing you, and a LOT more going on in the Senedd Chamber.

Now this is the part that’s really different.

You won’t be voting for a person anymore. You’ll be voting for a party.

In past Senedd elections, the person with the most votes in a constituency won. This is called First Past the Post.

But this time around it’s all about Proportional Representation, which simply means the number of seats won reflect the number of votes cast. Well… ish.

If a party gets about half the votes, they get about half the seats.

So, with this new Senedd voting system each party chooses 6 candidates - the people hoping to win a seat - and rank them in order, 1-6. A bit like your ‘favourites’ playlist.

As you’d expect, the party’s favourite candidate gets the number 1 slot.

There are several different forms of proportional representation. The Senedd uses the D’Hondt method and this is how it works.

After voting has finished, they count how many votes each party gets and start giving out seats one by one.

After winning a seat, a party’s votes are then divided by two, making it difficult to win a second seat. But if they happen to do so, then their votes are divided again, and this keeps going until all 6 seats in your local area have been filled.

It’s a great way to ensure that your vote actually counts and a fair way to share seats in elections so that parties with more votes get more seats, but smaller parties still get a chance.

Why mess with the system?

Well, Welsh Labour and Plaid Cymru backed the changes.

They say this new setup better reflects how people actually vote and reflects their views.

Not everyone was for the changes though. The Welsh Conservatives argued that voting for parties instead of people gives too much power to political parties and less choice to voters.

Either way, it’s a big shake-up and the Senedd could end up looking very different after the election.

One thing that hasn’t changed though, if you’re 16 or over and live in Wales, you can vote.

You can vote in person, by post, or by letting someone vote for you.

But you have to register first. All the details are on the Senedd website, so grab the opportunity so that your voice can be heard and help shape the Senedd that you want to see.