Politicians in Wales could be forced out of office if they are found to have deliberately lied under radical proposals aimed at restoring public trust in politics.
The Welsh government has pledged to introduce what it calls “globally pioneering” legislation by next year, seeking to make political deception illegal.
The Senedd’s standards of conduct committee, which was tasked with exploring how best to implement the law, has put forward recommendations that would tighten the code of conduct for elected officials.
The proposed changes would require members to retract false statements, with corrections prominently displayed on their Senedd profiles. Politicians could also face suspension and, in extreme cases, be removed by voters and replaced by a member of their party.
While the committee considered drafting a law that would make lying by elected politicians a criminal offence, it ultimately deemed the process too complex.
However, it has recommended expanding existing electoral laws to hold candidates accountable for making false claims to secure votes. Currently, legislation in Wales criminalises false statements about a rival’s character or personal conduct during campaigns.
The proposed reforms would extend this to cover any misleading statement made by a candidate for electoral advantage, with violations investigated by police and prosecuted in an electoral court.
The urgency of the reforms is heightened by upcoming changes to Wales’ voting system, which will increase the size of the Senedd and could lead to a highly charged election campaign. With Reform UK expected to gain seats, the political climate is expected to be particularly competitive.
Committee chair Hannah Blythyn underscored the need for stricter measures, stating, “People should be able to trust those who represent them. Our report is putting forward recommendations to radically enhance our rules and make it clear to anyone who wants to hold public office that deliberately deceiving is not acceptable.”
Experts and advocacy groups have welcomed the report but called for even stronger measures. Sam Fowles, director of the Institute for Constitutional and Democratic Research, rejected the notion that holding politicians accountable was unfeasible.
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“This report is a rejection of the counsels of doom which say that demanding politicians are honest is just too difficult,” he said. “We have professional regulations which require other professions to act honestly. We need to hold politicians to the same professional standards we expect from others.”
Jennifer Nadel, co-director of the think tank Compassion in Politics, praised the report but argued it did not go far enough. “This report puts Wales firmly at the forefront of the battle against political deception.
However, the report falls short of calling for serving members to be subject to criminal sanction, instead relying on beefing up existing standards mechanisms. We would like to see it go further in this respect,” she said.
A spokesperson for the Welsh government confirmed that it would carefully review the committee’s findings and recommendations before issuing a formal response.
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