Former Council Leader Aled Roberts Reinstated to Assembly
This article is old - Published: Thursday, Jul 7th, 2011
Aled Roberts who was reinstated as an AM for North Wales yesterday
Former Wrexham Council Leader Aled Roberts was readmitted to the Welsh assembly yesterday after a majority of AMs voted to reinstate him.
The Liberal Democrat candidate was originally elected for North Wales following the assembly’s May elections.
However, he was forced to stand down two weeks later after he was found to be a member of the Valuation Tribunal for Wales, a public body from which AMs are banned from joining.
Following the incident Mr Roberts claimed that out of date advice on the Welsh language site containing guidance for AMs was to blame for his error.
A report compiled by assembly standards commissioner Gerard Elias QC agreed with Mr Roberts’ claims and stated that the Ponciau councillor “did everything that he could have reasonably been expected to do in ensuring that he was not a disqualified person for the purpose of nomination or election”.
Assembly Members voted to lift his disqualification by a margin of 30 votes to 20 with three members abstaining after a debate on the matter.
The news comes after police said that they would not be holding a criminal investigation into Mr Roberts’ actions following an official complaint made by UKIP MEP for Wales, John Bufton.
Mr Roberts was reported to be relieved at being reinstated although he said he was cutting his hedge at the time of the vote to relieve his nerves.
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