{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/government-of-wales-act-2006/section-4",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/government-of-wales-act-2006/section-4.json",
  "legislation": "ukpga/2006/32",
  "legislation_title": "Government of Wales Act 2006",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/government-of-wales-act-2006",
  "path": "section/4",
  "kind": "section",
  "number": "4",
  "heading": "Power to vary date of ordinary general election",
  "text": "(1) Subject to section 3(1A), the Presiding Officer may propose, for the holding of the poll at an ordinary general election, a day which is not more than one month earlier, nor more than one month later, than the first Thursday in May.\n(2) If the Presiding Officer proposes a day under subsection (1), Her Majesty may by proclamation under the Welsh Seal—\n(a) dissolve the Senedd,\n(b) require the poll at the election to be held on the day proposed, and\n(c) require the Senedd to meet within the period of fourteen days beginning immediately after the day of the poll.\n(2A) Where a day is specified by an order under section 3(1B), subsection (1) applies as if the reference to the first Thursday in May were a reference to that day.\n(3) In calculating any period of days for the purposes of provision made by virtue of subsection (2)(c), the following days are to be disregarded—\n(a) Saturday and Sunday,\n(b) Good Friday,\n(c) any day which is a bank holiday in Wales under the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971 (c. 80), and\n(d) any day appointed for public thanksgiving or mourning.\n(4) The Welsh Ministers may by order make provision for—\n(a) any provision of, or made under, the Representation of the People Acts, or\n(b) any other enactment relating to the election of Members of the Senedd ,\nto have effect with such modifications or exceptions as the Welsh Ministers consider appropriate in connection with the alteration of the day of the poll under this section .\n(5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .\n(6) A statutory instrument containing an order under this section is subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of the Senedd.",
  "extent": "E+W+S+N.I.",
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F1",
      "text": "S. 4(1)-(2A) substituted for s. 4(1)(2) (1.4.2018) by Wales Act 2017 (c. 4), ss. 6(7), 71(4) (with Sch. 7 paras. 1, 6); S.I. 2017/1179, reg. 3(b)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F2",
      "text": "Words in Act substituted (6.5.2020) by Senedd and Elections (Wales) Act 2020 (anaw 1), s. 42(2), Sch. 1 para. 2(19) (with Sch. 1 para. 2(11)-(14))"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F3",
      "text": "Word in s. 4(2)(c) substituted (coming into force on the day of the first Senedd election at which the poll is held on or after 5.4.2021) by Senedd and Elections (Wales) Act 2020 (anaw 1), ss. 36(2), 42(5)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F4",
      "text": "Word in s. 4(3) substituted (1.4.2018) by Wales Act 2017 (c. 4), ss. 6(8), 71(4) (with Sch. 7 paras. 1, 6); S.I. 2017/1179, reg. 3(b)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F5",
      "text": "Words in s. 4(4) substituted (1.4.2018) by Wales Act 2017 (c. 4), ss. 6(9)(a), 71(4) (with Sch. 7 paras. 1, 6); S.I. 2017/1179, reg. 3(b)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F6",
      "text": "Words in Act substituted (6.5.2020) by Senedd and Elections (Wales) Act 2020 (anaw 1), s. 42(2), Sch. 1 para. 2(17) (with Sch. 1 para. 2(11)(12)(14))"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F7",
      "text": "Words in s. 4(4) substituted (1.4.2018) by Wales Act 2017 (c. 4), ss. 6(9)(b), 71(4) (with Sch. 7 paras. 1, 6); S.I. 2017/1179, reg. 3(b)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F8",
      "text": "Words in s. 4(4) inserted (1.4.2018) by Wales Act 2017 (c. 4), ss. 6(9)(c), 71(4) (with Sch. 7 paras. 1, 6); S.I. 2017/1179, reg. 3(b)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F9",
      "text": "S. 4(5) omitted (1.4.2018) by virtue of Wales Act 2017 (c. 4), ss. 6(10), 71(4) (with Sch. 7 paras. 1, 6); S.I. 2017/1179, reg. 3(b)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F10",
      "text": "Words in s. 4(6) substituted (1.4.2018) by Wales Act 2017 (c. 4), ss. 6(11), 71(4) (with Sch. 7 paras. 1, 6); S.I. 2017/1179, reg. 3(b)"
    },
    {
      "type": "C",
      "label": "C1",
      "text": "S. 4(2)(c) excluded (17.3.2021) by Welsh Elections (Coronavirus) Act 2021 (asc 2), ss. 2(3), 18 (with s. 13)"
    },
    {
      "type": "I",
      "label": "I1",
      "text": "Ss. 1-94, 97-106 in force immediately after \"the 2007 election\" by s. 161(1) (subject to s. 161(4)(5))"
    }
  ],
  "outstanding_effects": [
    {
      "type": "excluded",
      "affecting": "asc/2026/9",
      "affecting_title": "Senedd Cymru (Member Accountability and Elections) Act 2026"
    }
  ],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/32/section/4",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T09:14:12.769607+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}