PLAID Cymru members have ended Leanne Wood’s time as party leader, voting to replace her with Adam Price.
Though Price had been expected to win the contest, the scale of Wood’s defeat was surprising.
She scored just 1286 in the first round of voting, coming behind Rhun ap Iorwerth who took 1613, and Price who received 2863 votes.
Wood – who had been in charge since 2012 and gained UK-wide recognition after taking part in the 2015 General Election leaders’ debates – was contesting the position after members invoked a rule allowing a leadership election every two years. This was the first time Wood had been challenged.
Price, a member of the Welsh Assembly, was previously the MP for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr AM from 2001 until 2010.
In 2004, he tried to impeach Tony Blair for misleading Parliament in the run up to the war in Iraq.
Speaking after his win was announced, Price said an independent Wales was not a “far-off, unachievable aspiration” but a “firm, near-term realisable goal”.
“Our time has come and with it, positive, dynamic, permanent change to Wales and its politics.
“I’m fully aware of the scale of the challenge we face. We all know the road ahead won’t be easy. We know the institutional, psychological barriers that are in our path.
“All members must dig deep and each of us must grab a shovel.”
He added: “There will be no second class travellers on our journey to a prosperous, self-confident and independent Wales.”
“We must become the hope of those without hope.”
Price paid tribute to Wood, saying that as leader “she has inspired thousands with her drive, her resilience and her unending commitment to the causes that she and we hold dear”.
The Rhondda AM was the first woman to lead Plaid Cymru.
Wood left the count at the Novotel in Cardiff declining interviews but later tweeted her congratulations.
Her defeat means that of all the leaders who took part in the 2015 televised debate on ITV, the only one still in place is the SNP’s Nicola Sturgeon.
After the result, Rhun ap Iorwerth said: “Now it’s about coming together under the new leadership of Adam Price to take forward that joint vision that we have of a new Wales, a new more confident Wales, out to the public and build towards the next assembly election.”
The SNP’s Pete Wishart tweeted: “Worked with @Adamprice for almost a decade when he was an MP. One of the smartest political operators around. Congratulations to him”.
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