Co-chairs to lead Commission in recommending constitutional reform options

Professor Laura McAllister and Dr Rowan Williams will be co-chairs of an independent Constitutional Commission to consider Wales’ future.

The Commission will develop options for fundamental reform of the constitutional structures of the UK in which Wales remains an integral part, and will also consider all progressive options to strengthen Welsh democracy.

Dr Williams and Professor McAllister will lead the Commission in making recommendations on how Wales’ constitutional settlement can best improve outcomes for the people of Wales. It will aim to engage with the public for a national conversation about the future of Wales.

The establishment of an independent commission to consider the constitutional future of Wales was a commitment in the Welsh Government’s Programme for Government. Following the appointment of the co-chairs the remaining members will be confirmed next month and its first meeting is expected to be in November.

Professor Laura McAllister is a Welsh academic and former international footballer. She said:

“Serious contributions to our constitutional debate are greatly needed and I’m looking forward to our work contributing to filling that space. We’ll think boldly and radically about all potential options for the future of Wales, in the context of the increasing pressure on the Union.”

Dr Rowan Williams, born in Swansea, served as the Archbishop of Canterbury from 2002-2012. He commented:

“This Commission’s job is to ask what structures and constitutional provisions will best release the potential of Welsh communities and Welsh people.

“We want to make sure that the governance of Wales is effective, accountable and imaginative, and look forward to hearing what hopes and visions are animating people around the country.”

Responding to the announcement of Professor Laura McAllister and Dr Rowan Williams as the co-chairs of an independent Constitutional Commission to consider Wales’ future, Rhys ab Owen, Plaid Cymru Constitution and Justice and Justice spokesperson: “A Constitutional Commission is an opportunity to hold the most wide-ranging national conversation about Wales’s future in the history of devolution.

“We welcome Professor Laura McAllister and Dr Rowan Williams to post and wish them well in their roles as Chairs.

“Plaid Cymru looks forward to engaging constructively with the Commission and its work, making use of every opportunity it presents to make the case for independence and that our nation’s interests will be best served when decisions over Wales’s future are placed in Wales’s hands.”