Wales' finance minister, Elin Jones, voted against her own party's motion during a plenary session at the Senedd on Tuesday, despite speaking passionately in support of it moments earlier. The Welsh Government has confirmed that the vote was a mistake.
Motion on fiscal reform
The motion, which had cross-party support, called on Senedd members to back the Welsh Government's demand to accelerate investment in rail infrastructure in Wales and to grant ministers greater flexibility in how they spend funding from the UK Government.
Ms Jones told the chamber that the motion set a "constructive and practical agenda so both Welsh and UK governments can work together ensuring decisions about Wales properly reflect the needs of people here." She then pressed the button to vote against it.
Electronic voting error
Votes in the Senedd chamber are cast electronically by pressing a button on a screen. Official voting records list Elin Jones as having voted against the motion. This record cannot be changed, even though the vote was cast in error, according to the Welsh Government and the Senedd.
A Welsh Government spokesperson said: "This was a mistake on the minister's part. It was a genuine mistake. The minister did make a mistake and pressed the wrong button."
The spokesperson added: "The record is correct in that respect. That's how the vote went and the vote still passed."
No way to change the record
A Senedd spokesperson said: "There is no way to add a note to the vote nor is there a way to re-run it afterwards – and this applies no matter how critical a vote it is."
The spokesperson added: "It is worth noting that in the system, the member is asked to cast their vote, they select it, and then they are asked to confirm their vote. It is after that confirmation that the vote is cast and cannot be changed."
Motion passed despite error
The motion, which was passed anyway, asks the Welsh and UK Governments to work together on three issues: removing restrictions on the Wales Reserve, a fiscal mechanism that allows the Welsh Government to manage its funding from one financial year to the next; improvements to the operation of the Barnett formula, used to calculate how much money Wales gets from Westminster; and reaffirmed support for the UK Government's £14bn rail infrastructure commitment for Wales, with enough funding for improvement projects during the current Spending Review period.
As the motion was passed, the minister's mistake is less of a problem. Neither the Welsh Government nor the Senedd could say when the error was realised.
Previous voting mistakes
Voting mistakes have been made before in the chamber. In theory, a motion could be raised and voted on again. In this instance, that would not be needed as the motion was passed by majority and not on a single vote.
The minister's error prompted one Reform MS to comment on social media afterwards. Cai Parry-Jones, Senedd Member for Cardiff North-East / Caerdydd Ffynnon Taf, posted on X: "I am pleased my contribution in the Senedd against fiscal reform was convincing. Elin Jones, the Plaid Cymru minister who stood up in support for the motion ended up voting against it."
Plaid Cymru declined to comment, saying it was a question for the Welsh Government. The minister's office was approached for comment.
