Welsh election: Reform UK leader wants Wales' voting system changed

Reform UK wants a change to the way Senedd members are elected so people feel "their vote will be counted".

The party's Welsh leader, Nathan Gill, said he wanted a more proportional system and hoped this would be the last Senedd election to use 'first past the post'.

He also called for a directly elected first minister.

Mr Gill led UKIP's successful campaign to win seven Senedd seats in 2016.

After infighting, he left the party's group in August that year to sit as an independent.

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In December 2017, Mr Gill was accused by a Plaid Cymru politician of betraying voters by failing to attend proceedings in Cardiff Bay.

Mr Gill, who also served as a Member of the European Parliament at the same time, resigned from the Senedd later that month.

He was asked by the BBC's Politics Wales programme why people should vote for him based on his past experience in Cardiff Bay.

He said: "Well, because my role and the whole reason why I was elected in the first place was about Brexit, about getting Britain out of the EU."

Reform UK is a rebrand of the Brexit Party, established by former UKIP leader Nigel Farage to fight the 2019 European Parliamentary elections.

WALES ELECTION: THE BASICS

What's happening? On 6 May, people will vote to elect 60 Members of the Senedd (MSs). The party that can command the support of a majority of MSs will form the Welsh government. Find out more here.

What powers does the Senedd have? MSs pass laws on aspects of life in Wales such as health, education and transport - and have some tax powers.

In March, Nigel Farage stood down as leader of Reform UK.

Asked if the party was struggling to find a cause after Brexit, Mr Gill said: "We've definitely got a cause, I mean that's the name of the party, Reform UK.

"We want to reform, quite a few things about the way we're governed, a few things about the way the country operates and some of the big issues, like even the BBC and the way that we pay a licence fee.

"So, finding the cause isn't the issue," he added.

Reform UK has promised voters the party would implement no further coronavirus lockdowns.

In its "contract" with Senedd election voters, he said it would also clear the NHS backlog, and scrap business rates.

Politics Wales is on BBC One Wales at 10:15 BST on Sunday, 25 April, or catch-up on BBC iPlayer.