PLAID Cymru leader Leanne Wood has said her party will back a second referendum on the EU, if the UK Government fails to agree a trade deal.
Addressing her party’s conference in Caernarfon, Wood also attempted to nip in the bud rumours she could be ousted from the top job, insisting she was aiming to be the next First Minister of Wales.
Though the party secured one extra MP in June’s snap General Election, their share of the vote fell and they lost 14 of their deposits.
Plaid’s constitution means the leader must be elected every two years, with the next contest happening in 2018.
Addressing the party faithful, Wood said the next Welsh Assembly election in 2021 would be “an opportunity for political change”
“Friends, Plaid Cymru must lead that change,” Wood said. “And I intend to lead it, as our candidate for First Minister.”
She said: “To the citizens of Wales, I want to say that I accept that we need to earn your trust.
“You have just voted in the most dramatic election for decades. But Plaid Cymru and I are ready to serve
Wood has been Plaid’s leader since 2012 and is technically the longest running Westminster party chief in the country.
On Brexit and the prospect of no deal, Wood said: “If, in the worst possible scenario, we leave the European Union without a deal, people must have the opportunity to reject that disastrous outcome, either through a public vote, or through parliamentary democracy.”
She also attacked the Spanish for their actions in Catalonia.
In August this year, Plaid Assembly Member Rhun ap Iorwerth said he would be keen to be the party’s leader, fuelling speculation he could move on Wood.
The Ynys Mon AM insisted he had no immediate ambitions to be leader, however.
“Having the opportunity to become my own country’s prime minister would be something I would be delighted to do, of course – who wouldn’t?” he told Radio Cymru.
A different Plaid AM, who did not want to be named told the BBC: “The party needs a leadership contest. The election result under Leanne was disappointing. If we are going to move the party forward its time for Leanne to step down. She has lost authority in the group and no longer has any control over what the group does.”
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