Plaid Cymru: Rhun ap Iorwerth elected leader unopposed

Rhun ap Iorwerth has been elected unopposed as the new leader of Plaid Cymru, a month after the dramatic resignation of Adam Price.

He was the only candidate for the vacancy triggered by a damning report alleging a culture of bullying, harassment and misogyny in Plaid.

The new leader vowed to make the organisation a "welcoming party where everyone feels safe".

The former BBC journalist represents Ynys Môn in the Welsh Parliament.

Plaid is the Senedd's third largest party with 12 seats.

It holds three MPs in Westminster and is in a co-operation deal with the Welsh Labour government.

The announcement follows months of problems in the party, including claims of a toxic culture and an allegation last November of sexual assault made against a senior member of staff.

The situation led to the Project Pawb report by former Senedd member Nerys Evans, who found there were "too many instances of bad behaviour in the party".

A Plaid Cymru Senedd member was also suspended last year, pending an investigation, following a separate serious allegation about his conduct.

Speaking at the St David's Hotel in Cardiff Bay, Rhun ap Iorwerth committed to the co-operation agreement and said it showed "a glimpse from opposition of what we could achieve in government".

"But to be the champions that Wales needs, we have to be fit as a party and ready to face the challenges ahead," he said.

"And I'm determined that we will be, and I will be uncompromising in making this a welcoming party where everyone feels safe and supported and empowered to play their parts."

The Anglesey politician was the only candidate for the role, with many senior figures having ruled themselves out.

That was despite former leader Leanne Wood saying the new leader should be a woman.

She argued tackling misogyny would be easier, given a woman leader would have experience of it.

Shortly after her intervention on BBC Wales Live, the two remaining potential candidates said they would not run.

Earlier, former Plaid Cymru Senedd member Bethan Sayed said not enough was done in the party to make women feel confident about standing.

She said: "Sometimes we need other people to approach certain candidates - or as Leanne Wood would like to have seen in this case, a woman - to say 'what can we do to help you?'"

Rhun ap Iorwerth told Radio Wales Drive that Leanne Wood had made a "fair point".

But he said there were "women in positions of leadership right across the party" and said he saw Plaid has "having a collective leadership".

First Minister Mark Drakeford welcomed the announcement and said he looked forward "to a constructive working relationship".

But leader of the Welsh Conservatives in the Senedd, Andrew RT Davies, mocked the new leader in his statement welcoming the announcement.

"I'd like to congratulate Rhun on his appointment as leader of the third largest party in Wales," he said.

"Although the reason the change of leadership came about was because of the previous Plaid leadership's inability to tackle issues within their party. As Rhun was the deputy leader in that team, what's changed?"

Rhun ap Iorwerth has represented the constituency of Ynys Môn - which covers the Island of Anglesey - since 2013.

The former BBC Wales political correspondent had previously attempted to become party leader in 2018, when he was beaten by Adam Price.

Before he became leader - a role that has to be performed by a Member of the Senedd - the politician had been selected to stand for the party in Ynys Môn at the next general election.

It will now need to find another candidate, as the new leader confirmed he would not stand for the seat.

Rhun ap Iorwerth is taking over Plaid Cymru in the absence of a public debate about the party's future and after weeks of near-radio silence from his colleagues.

He becomes leader with no detailed plans for what he will do - his campaign amounting to a short social media video issued a few weeks ago.

And apart from a tweet here and there, there have been few big interventions from party figures.

It all gives the impression of a party that did not have the appetite for the theatre of a leadership campaign, given everything that has happened.

The task facing Rhun ap Iorwerth is enormous. Plaid remains vexed by the question of how to break out of its heartlands in north and west Wales.

To ever have a chance of unseating Labour it has to win seats in urban Wales, where Plaid struggles.

But with the party's internal problems out in the open, the hard politics of the ballot box are taking a backseat.