Senedd members took evidence on following Scotland’s lead by developing a recall system to allow voters to remove badly behaving politicians from office between elections.

Graham Simpson, a Member of the Scottish Parliament, gave evidence on his proposed recall bill to the Senedd’s standards committee on October 14.

Mr Simpson said his bill, which will be introduced by the end of this year, would automatically disqualify MSPs if they receive a prison sentence of six months or more.

As in Cardiff Bay and Westminster, the current threshold is 12 months while for councillors, a prison sentence of three months or more triggers disqualification.

Mr Simpson explained that the bill would extend a rule for councillors to MSPs, so they too can be removed if they do not attend meetings for six months.

Wales would be the only part of Britain without a similar mechanism if the Scottish bill was agreed, with the UK Parliament introducing a recall system nearly a decade ago.

Hannah Blythyn – the newly elected chair of the committee, which is looking at options for following suit – asked about the triggers for a recall petition under the Scottish proposal.

Mr Simpson said the triggers would be the same as Westminster’s: a custodial sentence for 12 months or less, a suspension of at least ten days or an expenses offence conviction.

With Senedd elections moving to a fully proportional system, and Wales abandoning first past the post, Labour’s Mick Antoniw questioned how the recall system would operate.

Wales will adopt a “closed-list” electoral system in 2026 and by-elections will not be held to replace outgoing politicians, with the next candidate on a party’s list returned instead.

Plaid Cymru’s Peredur Owen Griffiths asked whether sanctions should be subject to a two-thirds majority vote of the Senedd rather than a recall petition.

“No, I don’t think that would be fair,” said the MSP. “Not least because we have a recall system for MPs, I think there should be an equivalent system for members of the Senedd….

“There is always a danger of these things becoming political.”