IT remains the "clear preference" of the Welsh Government that the Senedd election should go ahead on Thursday May 6 as planned - but there can be no guarantees at this stage, said health minister Vaughan Gething.

Mr Gething was asked at today's Welsh Government coronavirus briefing if there was any major reason that an election could not go ahead, given the availability of a postal vote system.

But he said that "it is not quite as simple as turning a tap on, so everyone can have a postal ballot".

The Welsh Government is seeking the Senedd’s consent to introduce an emergency bill to give members powers to manage the conduct of the election, including to delay it for up to six months.

Mr Gething said the proposed legislation intends to "guard against the possibility that Covid rates are so significant that we cannot have an election".

And he added that if the position by May regarding coronavirus in Wales were to be the same as it has been recently, running an election "would be very difficult".

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Delaying the election by any amount of time is considered to be "absolutely a last resort" said Mr Gething, though he acknowledged that organising an running an election during the pandemic presents "real practical challenges".

"Even by the first week of May, we can be confident that there will still be a great many more difficult choices to make before we can say the pandemic is over," he said, adding that only then can the focus can shift to a recovery in economic terms, and in putting health services back on track.

"This is a piece of legislation to guard against the possibility that Covid rates are so significant that we can't have an election (on May 6)," he said.

He stressed that there are "real practical challenges to go through" to organise a poll during a pandemic but "it is absolutely a last resort to have a delay in the election".