It's Wales@Westminster weblog, BBC Wales' Parliamentary correspondent David Cornock's diary on political life.

Thursday 19 January

Candidate for trouble

posted by David | 1220 GMT |

Labour's drive to convince voters of a key part of its reforms to the Welsh assembly have suffered an embarrassing setback.

A commission set up by the UK government has rejected calls for the Scottish Parliament to make the same changes to its voting system that the UK government argues are essential in Wales.

The Arbuthnott commission says candidates for the Edinburgh Parliament should not be prohibited from standing in both a constituency and on a regional list.

The UK government is currently changing the law to prevent "dual candidacy" in Welsh assembly elections.

Today's report says: "The commission is not convinced that there is any evidence to support the claims made regarding these perceived problems. There is no survey evidence to suggest that dual candidacy is an issue for voters, or a disincentive to their participation in the political process.

"Few of our consultation responses raised dual candidacy as an issue, nor was it raised spontaneously in our focus groups. While we acknowledge that there is some misunderstanding about this aspect of the mixed member system, we have serious concerns about the impact such a ban would have."

Labour's leaders in Wales have been trying hard, perhaps too hard, to downplay the significance of the report - an effort that may prove counter-productive.

Welsh Secretary Peter Hain said: "The commission's recommendations apply to Scotland, and do not reflect the different circumstances in Wales.

"I am confident that if Sir John Arbuthnott had considered the systematic abuses carried out by list members in Wales, he would have reached exactly the same conclusion as we have - that a ban on dual candidacy is the only effective solution."

Welsh First Minister Rhodri Morgan said: "The amount of read-across from the Scottish Parliament to the Welsh assembly is quite limited because 42% of MSPs are elected on the list compared to 33% in Wales."

Click the link below for details of what the report has to say.