Abolish the Welsh Assembly Party

The Abolish the Welsh Assembly Party was formally registered with the Electoral Commission in July 2015[4] 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.[5] It did not contest any constituency seats.

Former UKIP leadership candidate 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.[6] He campaigned on the single issue of the Welsh Assembly, claiming it was "a waste of money" and "an unnecessary tier of politics". Suchorzewski had previously stood for the Conservative Party and then for UKIP, at one point standing for leadership of UKIP against Nigel Farage.[6]

Lee Canning, deputy chair of the Welsh Conservatives, defected to the party in November 2019, claiming that his former party were not doing enough to maintain the unity of the UK.[7] 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 representative in Welsh local government.[8]

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.[9][10][11]

In October 2020, a second member of the Welsh Parliament, Mark Reckless, joined the party. Reckless, who was previously the Leader of the Brexit Party in Wales, stated, "Most of the people who supported the Brexit party - two thirds - said they wanted to abolish the Assembly or Senedd and I think those people deserve to be represented in politics."[12]

In November 2020, the Electoral Commission removed the party from the register of political parties. The party's former leader, David Bevan, had fallen out with the party and did not renew the party's registration.[13] Instead, he submitted a rival Abolish the Welsh Assembly Party for registration with himself as the leader, claiming this party would be fielding candidates in the next Senedd election.[14] A spokesman for the original party was quoted opposing the registration, warning Bevan against "stealing the party like a thief in the night."[14] This was resolved when the Electoral Commission, in January 2021, rejected the registration of the second party saying, "We have rejected the second application on the basis that when a party is deregistered, its name is protected for a period of time by law. This means that during this time only the previously registered party can apply to use that name."[15]

In January 2021, Abolish was reinstated on the Electoral Register[15] by the Electoral Commission. Suchorzewski said he "[looked] forward to naming candidates to stand for Abolish in the Welsh Assembly/Senedd elections due on 6th May - or later if it's postponed due to the other parties running scared and delaying the election as far into the future as possible. We believe there are safe election solutions, however whenever the election is called we shall be ready."[15]

• Devolution in Wales
• Unionism in Wales

• Official Party Website