Rhondda Labour members against party's Senedd expansion plan

Labour members in the south Wales valleys have voted "unanimously" against Senedd expansion proposals.

Rhondda's Labour MP Chris Bryant said members supported reform "in principle" but opposed parts of the plan as it will leave politicians "less connected" to voters.

The Welsh Labour government and Plaid Cymru have agreed a plan to increase Members of the Senedd from 60 to 96.

Tories have called for it to be put to a referendum.

Education Minister Jeremy Miles called the changes "a substantial package of reform" that the Welsh Labour Party would have the "opportunity to endorse" at a special conference on 2 July.

While he "very much" hopes they will back proposals, he told BBC Politics Wales that Labour "has a democratic process, each individual constituency Labour Party will form its own view".

In March, the party's conference delegates unanimously backed proposals to increase the size of the Senedd to between 80 and 100 members, but left open the issue of which electoral system to adopt.

Following an agreement between Labour and Plaid, plans were unveiled in May to increase the number of politicians to 96 by the 2026 election.

Those politicians would be split across 16 constituencies, each electing six MSs under the d'Hondt method of proportional representation currently used to elect the Senedd's regional members.

It would mean voters get one vote to back the party of their choice, with parties deciding on the order of candidates in what is known as a closed list system.

There would also be mandatory quotas of men and women, although questions have been raised about whether the Senedd has the power to introduce this.

The Labour-Plaid proposals were endorsed by a Senedd committee established to look at reform.

Despite opposition from the Welsh Conservatives, the plans are expected to pass the required threshold of support from two-thirds of the Senedd since Labour and Plaid Cymru have 43 out of the 60 MSs in Cardiff Bay.

But Mr Bryant said on Twitter that Labour members in his constituency Rhondda were opposed to "electing six representatives in each 200,000 constituency on closed lists".

He added: "It will make MSs much less connected to local people. There are other, better proportional systems."

Labour's Rhondda MS, Buffy Williams, said she remained "completely impartial" and observed the discussion as party members quizzed Economy Minister Vaughan Gething about the plans, and did not cast a vote.

She said members were concerned the plans would mean they would lose their "identity" and connection with the Rhondda, adding she was left between a "rock and a hard place".

"I'm still very much reading all the information as it comes through, looking at what it means for the Rhondda, and looking at all aspects before coming to a decision one way or another," she added.