The Cornish National Assembly Bill (2016)

BE IT ENACTED by The Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Commons in this present Parliament assembled, in accordance with the provisions of the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
1. Definitions
(1) Constituents of Cornwall are those who voted in the Cornish constituency at the previous General Election or did not vote at the previous General Election.
(2) D’hondt is a system wherein voters vote for a political party or grouping list of candidates and seats are allocated proportionally.
(3) Cornwall is defined as the historical county named as such.
(4) The Presiding Officer is the speaker of the Cornish National Assembly
2. Cornwall shall have a devolved legislature branch.
(1) The devolved Cornish legislature shall be called the Cornish National Assembly.
(2) All positions in the Cornish National Assembly shall be electable.
3. Powers of the Cornish National Assembly
(1) The Cornish National Assembly shall be granted numerous powers over the region of Cornwall.
(2) All sitting legislators in the Cornish National Assembly shall be elected by the constituents of Cornwall.
(3) There shall only be one Presiding Officer at any one time.
(4) The Presiding Officer shall be elected via means of Alternate Vote by member of the Assembly.
(5) The number of members of the Cornish National Assembly are subject to change at the moderators discretion.
(6) The Cornish National Assembly is a devolved assembly, with jurisdiction over the region of Cornwall.
4. Elections for the Cornish National Assembly
(1) The Cornish National Assembly shall be elected using the D’hondt system. The election shall consist of a d’hondt system for the whole assembly.
(2) Constituents of Cornwall shall vote for their party list of choice
(3) The votes shall be counted and then the seats shall be distributed using the d’hondt system.
(4) There shall be one Cornish constituency
(5) The Assembly shall consist of ten Assembly Members (AMs).
5. The Government of the Cornish National Assembly
(1) The Government of the Cornish National Assembly shall also be known as the Cornish Assembly.
(2) The Cornish Government is the executive branch of the devolved government in Cornwall and is accountable to the Cornish National Assembly.
(3) The Cornish Government shall be led by the First Minister who shall be an Assembly Member and leader of the largest party or coalition in the Cornish National Assembly.
(4) The Cornish Government cabinet shall consist of a maximum of eight ministers and deputy ministers appointed by the first minister and approved by the Assembly
(5) Ministers of the Government shall be head of their respective departments and shall be held to account by an Opposition cabinet and Assembly Members in general.
(6) Ministers of the Government shall be either AMs or Non-AMs.
6. The Cornish National Assembly
(1) The Cornish National Assembly shall contain Assembly Members who are elected by the Cornish constituents.
(2) Cornish National Assembly shall monitor the activities of the Cornish Government and discuss important issues for Cornwall.
(3) The Cornish National Assembly shall have the obligation to debate issues of importance to the people of Cornwall upon petition.
(4) The Assembly shall vote on bills submitted by Assembly Members. A simple majority is needed for a bill to be made into law.
(5) The National Assembly for Cornwall shall vote on a Presiding Officer using the alternative vote system. (i) The Presiding Officer of the Cornish National Assembly shall be in charge of the proceedings for the Cornish National Assembly and shall put bills up for vote.
(ii) The Presiding Officer of the Cornish National Assembly shall be able to vote on bills and shall break the deadlock if there is a draw between the ayes and the nays.
(iii) The Presiding Officer of the Cornish National Assembly shall choose one member of the National Assembly for Cornwall to be their deputy and carry out the Presiding Officer of the National Assembly for Cornwall’s duty when the Presiding Officer of the Cornish National Assembly is not available.
(iv) If the Presiding Officer of the Cornish National Assembly leaves the position of the Presiding Officer of the Cornish National Assembly, a new election for the Presiding Officer of the Cornish National Assembly shall be held.
(6) The Assembly Members of the Cornish National Assembly shall form the Cornish Government and Opposition after the Cornish National Assembly’s election.
(i) The Cornish Government shall not contain more than half of the parties represented in the Cornish National Assembly.
7. First Election of the National Assembly for Cornwall
(1) There shall be a first election of the National Assembly for Cornwall four weeks from the act coming into force upon enactment.
(2) The first election shall be conducted using the method stated in this bill. Only Cornish constituents, new voters and those with reasonable connections to Cornwall shall be able to vote in the first election of the National Assembly for Cornwall.
(i) It shall be the speakership team and moderator’s duty to ensure that all voters are eligible members of the Cornish Constituency or have reasonable connections to Cornwall.
(3) All elections after the first election shall continue the normal pattern and shall take place four weeks after a General Election.
8. Commencement, Short Title, and Extent
(1) This act extends to whole of the United Kingdom.
(2) This act shall come into force immediately upon enactment.
(3) This act may be cited as the Cornish National Assembly Act (2016).

Submitted by the Hon. /u/Irelandball MP on behalf of Sinn Fein.

The voting period for this bill will end on March 16th, 10PM GMT.

Vote Aye, Nay or Abstain. Comments with anything else will be deleted. Comments that are edited will be void and not counted.

If a member is voting by proxy, they must have gained permission from the speaker prior to this vote. If no permission was sought and granted, their vote will not be counted.