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A Senedd Member has apologised for comments made on social media eight years ago, which joked about shooting “chavs”.
Conservative Laura Anne Jones, who represents the South Wales East region, posted a comment on her personal Facebook account which read: “I would like to do a spot of Chav shooting”, before adding: “such a shame that isn’t legal.”
What is a regional Senedd Member?
Wales is divided into 40 constituencies for Senedd elections. Each consituency elects one Senedd Member through a first past the post system.
Hefin David represents the Caerphilly constituency, Rhianon Passmore represents Islwyn and Dawn Bowden represents Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney.
Then, Wales is split into five regions, each region being represented by four Senedd Members. This means there are 20 regional Senedd Members, and 60 Senedd Members in total.
The three constituencies within Caerphilly County Borough form part of the South Wales East region.
Regional members are elected using a proportional representation system, where members are selected from a list of candidates submitted by each party.
These are the current regional Senedd Members for South Wales East:
- Delyth Jewell (Plaid Cymru)
- Laura Anne Jones (Welsh Conservatives)
- Mark Reckless (Abolish the Welsh Assembly Party)
- David Rowlands (Independent Alliance for Reform)
What area does South Wales East cover?
The South Wales East region includes the following constituencies:
- Blaenau Gwent
- Caerphilly
- Islwyn
- Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney
- Monmouth
- Newport East
- Newport West
- Torfaen
Ms Jones, 42, also posted a comment which joked about shooting the then-Labour leader Ed Milliband.
Ms Jones was not serving in the Senedd at the time the comments were made.
She became a Senedd Member in 2020, following the death of Mohammad Asghar MS, and was appointed Shadow Minister for Housing and Local Government, Equalities, Children and Young People in January this year.
Ms Jones previously served in the then-called Welsh Assembly between 2003 and 2007 – and was its youngest member at the time.
In a statement, Ms Jones said: “I apologise for this post that was made on my personal Facebook page nearly 10 years ago.
“I do not condone the use of violence in any form, and my flippant use of language was unacceptable and inappropriate, which I deeply regret.
“They do not represent me, or my views, and I’m very sorry for any offence I have caused.”
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