Representing Wales and its people

The Assembly is made up of 60 elected Assembly Members (AMs) - 40 are chosen to represent individual constituencies, and 20 are chosen to represent the five regions of Wales (North Wales, Mid and West Wales, South Wales West, South Wales Central and South Wales East). Assembly Members represent their area as a member of a political party or as an independent member.

Every person in Wales is represented by five AMs in total: one AM for their constituency (the local area in which they live), and another four AMs that represent their region.

Following an Assembly election, the Welsh Government (the ministers) is formed of Assembly Members from the party with the most votes. It is composed of up to 14 Assembly Members. Assembly Members meet every week when the Assembly is in session. They discuss issues of importance to Wales and its people, they pose questions to Welsh Government Ministers, carry out debates and produce reports on government policies and committee reports and examine Welsh laws.

These weekly meetings of all 60 Members are referred to as Plenary meetings, and take place in the Siambr, which is the Senedd’s debating chamber, on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons between 1.30 and 6.30pm. They are chaired by the Presiding Officer.

Anyone can watch these debates from the public gallery in the Senedd, or on the Senedd TV website.