WE SEND a huge thank you to the 44,286 people who voted for us. Your support is fantastic.

We beat the Green Party in every region of Wales. We beat the Liberal Democrats in two of the five regions. This was achieved by a party formed only 10 months ago.

We were starved of media coverage and we think this was a disservice to democracy. Yet we still delivered 4.4 per cent of the regional vote.

The 1997 referendum, yes or no, to a Welsh Assembly, was nearly a dead heat – 49.7 per cent no and 50.3 per cent yes. Only half the electorate voted that day.

So actually only a quarter of us voted yes to the Assembly. Hardly a mandate for fundamental change.

We urge everyone to consider the possibility that the Welsh Assembly was not designed for the benefit of the Welsh people, but for the benefit of the career politicians. They get the big salaries, expenses and pensions. What do we get? The bill.

Issues that are perhaps best devolved can be made the responsibility of our local authorities and their 1,265 councillors. The councillors are the people really in the know. That would bring “Power closer to the people”. We think the Assembly just gets in the way, while costing about £500 million a year.

We consider our result in this election to be a foundation stone for our future campaign. If you want to help spread the word, please get in touch at davidbevan735@icloud.com

David Bevan

Leader of Abolish the Welsh Assembly Party