Letter to First Minister of Wales, Mark Drakeford First Minister of Wales Mark Drakeford AM Welsh Government 5th Floor Tŷ Hywel Cardiff Bay CF99 1NA 17th December 2018 Dear First Minister, We are writing to congratulate you on your appointment as the new First Minister of Wales. This is a significant time for the country, and it is fantastic that you will be there to steer the course. We fundamentally believe that as First Minister you have an incredible opportunity to shape the future of Welsh democracy for the better. The impending challenges with regards to Brexit are also a chance to fulfil people’s desire for more autonomy, and to bring power closer to home. One great unifier in this divided age is the feeling which I believe you share: that when power is given to the many, we all benefit. When people’s voices are truly heard, the toxic feelings of alienation can be transformed into something inspiring. We have seen this in Wales through our work with young people and with 1. see Electoral Reform Society Cymru, disadvantaged, isolated communities1. There is indeed a sense that institutions Missing Voices: How to people across Wales feel about politics?, 2017 do not work for them. But there is also hope that change is on its way. The plans to introduce Votes at 16 for Wales are the first step in this progress. Wales will be joining Scotland in truly listening to young people’s voices. This, alongside innovations to voting at a local level could be a gamechanger for the way Wales works. Our research has shown a huge number of people ‘left behind’ by issues including a broken voter registration system, and an outdated, disempowering voting system, which proposed changes would go a long way to rectifying. A stronger Senedd Alongside these much-needed changes to local government, we would also urge you to renew efforts to implement the Assembly reform recommendations made by the Expert Panel chaired by Professor Laura McAllister. Increasing the capacity of the Welsh Parliament and empowering the public through a fairer, more grassroots STV voting system - combined with diversity quotas - would move our Parliament into the next gear. We believe such a package of measures would revolutionise and future-proof our Welsh democracy. While we understand the legislative arrangements for the development of the Expert Panel recommendations are in the hands of the Assembly Commission, the support of your government and of your party is vital to the success of these measures, and we are ready to support all efforts to implement them. Electoral Reform Society 1 Power for the Many In local government, there are fundamental issues that need to be addressed. The makeup of our local authorities is a stark reflection of how much needs to change. Just 28% of our councillors are women. Two cabinets in Wales have no 2. Electoral Reform Society Cymru, women on them at all. Our ‘New Voices’ report2 out earlier this year set out New Voices: How Welsh politics can begin to reflect Wales, 2018 clear solutions to address this imbalance. Given low turnout, disproportionate election results and the huge number of uncontested seats at local elections, moving away from Westminster’s archaic voting system is long overdue. Shifting to the Single Transferable Vote for local elections - as in Scotland and Ireland - would turbo-charge local democracy and ensure every vote counted, alongside measures to boost diversity and participation. We also wanted to emphasise the importance of a good system of political education to underpin our democracy. Our ‘Our Voices Heard’ project, recently engaged 200 young people and asked them for their ideas to improve political education. Measures such as statutory political education and giving young people the opportunity to discuss and debate current affairs and political developments go hand in hand with the extension of the franchise. Finally, can we congratulate on you on the diversity of your new cabinet. We believe that this sends out a strong and positive message to other institutions in Wales that diversity at all levels of politics is needed and can be achieved. Congratulations again on your appointment. We look forward to continuing our work with you. Best wishes, Jess Blair Director, ERS Cymru Electoral Reform Society 2.