First meeting of new Senedd will take place today – with Mark Drakeford set for First Minister role again

The first Plenary meeting of the Sixth Senedd will take place at 3.00pm today, Tuesday May 11..

The first order of business for the 60 newly elected Members of the Senedd will be to elect a Presiding Officer (Llywydd) and Deputy Presiding Officer, followed by nominations for a First Minister – if the Senedd resolves to do so – with Mark Drakeford set to be First Minister once again.

If there is only one nomination for First Minister the Presiding Officer will declare that Member to be the nominee, however if there is more than one nomination, Members will be asked to vote for their preferred nominee, by roll call and the winner decided.

Although that direct democratic action takes place by those who have been voted in by the people of Wales on Thursday, the Presiding Officer will then recommend to the Queen that the Member nominated by the Senedd be appointed as First Minister, and it is hoped she will then rubber stamp that nomination.

The meeting will be held in a hybrid format. In line with current Coronavirus regulations, 20 Members can be present in the Siambr, with the remaining 40 Members joining online from their offices in Ty Hywel.

The secret ballots for electing the Presiding Officer and Deputy will be paper ballots. Voting will take place in the Senedd building, in a socially distanced manner.

A full meeting agenda will be published on the Senedd website and the meeting will be broadcast live on Senedd TV.