Member of the Senedd

MSs are elected in one of two ways: • First-past-the-post constituency or • Regional additional-member Forty are elected as constituency MSs and twenty are elected as additional members, four from each of five regional groups of constituencies. This additional member system produces a form of proportional representation for each region. ==Elections==

All MSs positions become simultaneously vacant for elections held on a five-year cycle. If a vacancy arises at another time, due to death or resignation, it may be filled in one of two ways, depending on whether the vacancy is for a first-past-the-post constituency MS or for an additional-member MS. A constituency vacancy may be filled by a by-election. An additional member vacancy may be filled by the next available candidate on the relevant party list. == Renaming ==

Holders of this office were first called an "Assembly Member" (), abbreviated to "AM" in English (plural: AMs; or in , plural: ), under the legislature's then name, the National Assembly for Wales, from its inception in 1999. The public consultation showed the most supported option was "Member of the Welsh Parliament" (MWP) at 30%, followed by "Member of the Senedd" (MS) on 28.4%, and the commission's preferred option on 11.1%. "Member of the Welsh Parliament", abbreviated to MWP, raised concerns from some AMs, over potential ridicle. Their concerns were that the abbreviation "MWP" was too close to Welsh words "" () and "" (), or sounding similar to a Welsh pronunciation of "muppet". In 2020, the legislature was renamed following the ratification of the Senedd and Elections (Wales) Act 2020, which renamed the legislature as the "Welsh Parliament" in English, and "" in Welsh. While "Member(s) of the Welsh Parliament" has also been used. ==See also==