[3] The law was last reformed by Section 58 of the (England and Wales) Children Act 2004 which had stopped the use of the "reasonable punishment defence" for the charges of actual bodily harm or cruelty to a child.

[3] The existing Crown Prosecution Service guidance that injuries must exceed "temporary reddening of the skin" will no longer be considered in cases.

[3] The deputy social services minister Julie Morgan proposed the new law after years of breaking the Labour whip on the issue.

Under former First Minister Carwyn Jones, Labour had previously opposed a ban on smacking, however his successor Mark Drakeford (a former social worker) has been an advocate of reform.

Brexit Party group leader Mark Reckless said "the time was not right to legislate", while Helen Mary Jones of Plaid Cymru praised the decision as closing "an outdated loophole (which) finally gives children in Wales the same legal protection from assault as adults.