RECENT Tory government activities have done nothing to improve the democratic process for the people of Wales.

Earlier this month we had the second reading of the Elections Bill.

I spoke against it in Parliament and pointed out the difference in approach between the UK and Welsh governments towards the democratic process of voting in elections.

In my contribution I argued that “what we should be doing, as we are doing in Wales, is putting measures in place that encourage people to vote. This Bill does the opposite.”

It will lead to those thousands of people in Wales who have no voter ID being disenfranchised — and they are the most marginalised in society: the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities, older people, disabled people and homeless people.

Twenty-two civil society groups and charitable organisations in Wales co-signed a statement opposing this Bill.

Wales is looking to ways of making voting in elections easier and more accessible — this Bill will make it harder for people.

I described the Bill as an “unnecessary, costly and a Conservative power grab.”

But Wales is fighting back. The counsel-general, Mick Antoniw MS, has announced that Welsh government is to refuse legislative consent to the UK Election Bill.

The Welsh government does not support voter ID, the placing of unnecessary constraints on postal and proxy voting, or the extension of the overseas franchise.

It was also pointed out that the Bill will add to voter confusion and administrative complexity because it won’t apply to Welsh Senedd or local government elections — so Wales would have a two-tier system.

There is also much concern about the taking of its independence away from the Electoral Commission and placing power in the hands of Westminster.

Wales is constantly battling against this Tory power grab — see the Shared Prosperity Fund, the Internal Market Bill and the administration of the so-called “levelling-up” moneys, all of which have been attempts to undermine the authority of the Senedd.

As usual, it is pretty clear that there was no meaningful engagement by this Tory government with either the Welsh or Scottish governments prior to this Bill coming to the House.

The Boundary Review will reduce the number of Welsh MPs by eight — down from 40 to 32, based on constituency population size.

The Boundary Commission (Wales) states that it has taken other factors into account, like geography, historical and cultural connections — but that is difficult to square with some of the proposals.

Some constituencies will cover a huge geographical area — like Brecon and Radnor in Mid Wales. This will clearly make MPs less easily accessible to their constituents.

In other decisions, parts of a city like Newport are joined with a more valley community, namely Caerphilly, and my own valley constituency of Cynon Valley is divided in two, with part being amalgamated with a neighbouring valley with a mountain between us.

If numbers control decision-making local needs and connections, which should be primary considerations, become secondary.

Former Welsh secretary Peter Hain has described these proposals as an “anti-Labour, anti-valleys charter.”

Valley communities do have distinct identities, family connections, closely linked villages, a specific geography and common public services.

While it is argued that there needs to be a fair distribution of electors between constituencies and that Wales has more smaller constituencies, there are counter-arguments around a needs-based approach to change, as well as the need for this small nation to have as powerful a voice as possible at Westminster to make sure we are heard, especially on such centralised issues as welfare benefits which affect large numbers of my constituents and to press (as I constantly do) for adequate funding.

But above all, these two measures of the Election Bill and Boundary Review do not tackle the major issue facing the UK — and that is the urgent need for constitutional reform to ensure that the four nations of the UK have adequate funds and have the power they need to be able to meet the needs of the countries they represent.

In Wales, many of us are calling for radical federalism — a federal system of government based on socialist principles.

In fact, both measures expose the lack of consideration or understanding for the needs of the people of Wales and, in the instance of the Election Bill, Westminster’s total disregard for the views of Welsh government.

Devolution has reached a point now where the distribution of power between Welsh and UK government needs to be adjusted in favour of the devolved nations.

Without that taking place, these measures will never solve the tensions between Westminster and Wales and the undemocratic nature of our present system of government and voting system.

The main development in terms of reform of government and electoral processes that I want to see is one that brings power to make decisions that affect our lives closer to the people and that fairly represents the will of people. Neither of these measures meets those requirements.

Beth Winter is MP for Cynon Valley.