The new leader of Plaid Cymru, Rhun ap Iorwerth, has promised to get the party back on track and make it a welcoming place for everyone after its misogyny and harassment scandal.
Despite strong calls within the party for the new leader to be a woman, ap Iorwerth was announced as leader at an event at Cardiff Bay as the only candidate who put his name forward.
Ap Iorwerth said: “I will be uncompromising in making this a welcoming party where everyone feels safe and supported and empowered to play their part. We’ve had an excellent woman leader in the past [Leanne Wood], we’ll have women leaders in the future. We have an excellent leader at Westminster in Liz Saville Roberts.”
Adam Price resigned as Plaid leader last month after a report found a culture of sexual harassment, bullying and misogyny and made 82 recommendations of ways to “detoxify” the party.
Ap Iorwerth said the party was at a “difficult junction”, but the report meant it had a way forward. “We have a roadmap, recommendations that have already started to be implemented.”
He said the cooperation agreement with Labour in the Welsh Senedd would continue – but took a swipe at Labour’s record on the NHS, saying its record in health had “trashed” trust in the delivery of public services. He said he could not imagine working with the Tories and claimed Boris Johnson’s “lies” had undermined trust in politics.
Ap Iorwerth said he hoped Wales would become independent in his lifetime and said he was keen to win over the “curious” and the sceptics as well as working with committed pro-independence supporters.
Ap Iorwerth, who represents Ynys Môn (Anglesey) in the Senedd and is a former journalist, was a deputy leader until Price stepped down
Wood was one of those who argued the next leader should be a woman, saying they would be better placed than a man to understand misogyny.
But two of ap Iorwerth’s potential rivals, Sioned Williams and Siân Gwenllian, said that though they agreed with Wood, they would not be standing and would campaign for a new leadership model to help ensure equality.
Ap Iorwerth was born in south Wales, brought up on Ynys Môn and educated at Ysgol David Hughes on the island and at Cardiff University, where he graduated with a degree in politics and Welsh. He is married and has three children.
