(Title Image: via Senedd TV)
Standards Committee
Complaint against Dr Dai Lloyd MS (Plaid, South Wales West) in his capacity as Plaid Cymru parliamentary group chair.
Complaints made by Jonathan Swan.
Published: 25th November 2020 (pdf)
The complaint – dating back, unbelievably, to June 2017 – is the second in as many months relating to the use of Senedd resources for party political purposes.
Plaid Cymru were accused of holding a political strategy meeting on the Senedd estate and, as group chair, Dai Lloyd didn’t do anything to prevent this meeting going ahead, contrary to Senedd rules on the use of resources.
The complaint is almost identical to that made against Labour earlier this year, except it concerned the 2017 UK General Election. Also, the meeting wasn’t about preparations for the election, but to discuss the reaction to it. The complaint itself was made in February 2020.
As in September this year, the Standards Committee concluded that a breach of the rules had been made, but that no further action should be taken.
The situation is a bit more complicated as it first appears, as the Acting Standards Commissioner, Douglas Bain, believed the complaint was politically motivated. In the 2019-20 standards annual report, published in June, the Acting Commissioner concluded that some members were using the standards procedure “as a political weapon” and that some Senedd members were using members of the public to make complaints on their behalf.
Jonathan Swan – who it’s said didn’t co-operate fully with the investigation, resulting in increased costs and delays – is the former chair of Plaid Cymru’s Cardiff West branch. He left the party to join Neil McEvoy MS’s then-titled Welsh National Party in December 2019.
The notes of the meeting – corroborated by Neil McEvoy himself (who was a member of Plaid Cymru at the time of the meeting) – were redacted.
The Committee has been asked to consider whether a time limit should be introduced for complaints to prevent the system from being abused in this way. The Commissioner also wants further consideration to be given to allowing the Standards Commissioner to end an investigation if a complainant doesn’t co-operate.
