Abolish the Welsh Assembly Party


The Abolish the Welsh Assembly Party is a single-issue political party launched in Wales in 2015. The party campaigns for the abolition of the Senedd Cymru, the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales, instead favouring no devolved Welsh Parliament or assembly in Wales.

History

The party was formally registered with the Electoral Commission in July 2015 and was publicly launched in November 2015. Its sole stated aim is the abolition of Senedd Cymru / the Welsh Parliament, formerly known as the National Assembly for Wales. The party nominated candidates for each of the regional lists in the 2016 Assembly elections, winning 4.4% of the regional vote and returned no seats. It did not contest any constituency seats. Richard Suchorzewski, stood in the 2019 Newport West by-election, the first time the party had nominated a candidate for a Westminster seat. Suchorzewski stated that his main aim was to raise awareness of the party's message. He campaigned on the single issue of the Welsh Assembly, claiming it was a "a waste of money", "an unnecessary tier of politics" and “a misguided promoter of human rights.”
In November 2019, Lee Canning defected to the party as he claimed that the Welsh Conservatives are not doing enough to maintain the unity of the U.K. Canning aims to stand "in a key target seat" in the 2021 Senedd election. In May 2020, Powys councillor Claire Mills quit the Welsh Conservatives and joined the party for similar reasons, becoming the party's first elected representative in Welsh local government. Richard Suchorzewski became the new leader of the party in June 2020. Later in the same month Gareth Bennett, the former leader of the UKIP Senedd group and Independent MS, joined the party along with former Brexit Parliamentary candidates Cameron Edwards and Richard Taylor.

Electoral performance

Welsh Assembly elections

Election# of List vote% of List vote# of overall seats won+/-PositionOutcomeNotes
201644,2864.4 0Not in Assembly