Assembly candidates can run for two seats under new plans (From Penarth Times)

Assembly candidates can run for two seats under new plans

4:28pm Tuesday 12th March 2013 in News

A BAN on Welsh Assembly members running in both a constituency seat and a regional list at election looks set to be lifted.

But David Jones, secretary of state for Wales, says that AMs will be prohibited from sitting simultaneously as MPs under proposals set to be taken forward by the UK Government,.

No AM is currently “double jobbing”, however Peter Law served as both Blaenau Gwent MP and AM until he died in 2006.

The changes, which follow a consultation on how Wales elects the Assembly, will also see the Assembly moving from four to five year terms.

If implemented, the moves would mean that party leaders and others can hedge their bets by running in both a constituency seat and a regional list.

Former Welsh Tory leader Nick Bourne lost his regional seat after the party's success in Mid and West Wales meant he did not secure election on his list.

Reports have suggested that Leanne Wood, the current leader of Plaid Cymru, will run in a constituency seat.

The changes mean that if she was also nominated to the top of a regional list for an Assembly election, and Plaid polled enough votes but did not win the constituency, she could still be elected.

A ban on the practice was introduced by the Labour UK government in 2006.

The Wales Office said lifting the ban on dual candidacies would “avoid a disproportionate impact on smaller political parties”.