Adam Price, the leader of Plaid Cymru, is understood to be considering his future after a damning review found his party had failed to “detoxify” its culture.
Price, 54, who has led the Welsh nationalist party since 2018, apologised in response to the report, adding that it must do better “to foster a culture” that was “safe, inclusive and respectful to all”; but he refused to resign.
Nerys Evans, the MS who led the review that was published last week, said Plaid had especially let women down and it had “failed to implement a zero-tolerance approach to sexual harassment”.
Speculation over Price’s future had mounted overnight after a senior Welsh politician said he could not publicly support him, or confirm whether Price would still be in his role next week.
Llyr Gruffydd, the Senedd Plaid group chair and MS for north Wales, instead told ITV’s Sharp End programme: “I’m not going to enter into gossip of that sort. You cannot pin this on one solitary single person – this is a much wider corporate issue that Plaid Cymru is grappling with.”
Reports from the news website Nation.Cymru claimed Price had already agreed to quit as leader before a crunch meeting of Plaid’s national executive committee later on Wednesday. Nation.Cymru also said Price wanted to step down with immediately but that others in the party were seeking an orderly handover.
On Tuesday, Plaid members of the Senedd held talks on the damning report, which criticised the party’s leadership for failing to change its culture. However, it remained unclear what conclusions, if any, were drawn.
Last week, Price said all 82 of the report’s recommendation would be taken on board.
Refusing to quit, he told Wales Online: “The report doesn’t criticise me personally. But I think it is important for me to take personal responsibility and I do, because I’m the leader.”
He added: “I think that walking away would be abdicating my responsibility. I think my responsibility now is to acknowledge the truth of what’s happened but then to commit to working with others to get it right.”
A Plaid spokesperson has said: “Last night, the Plaid Cymru Senedd group met to discuss the implementation of the recommendations of the Prosiect Pawb report.
“Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price has subsequently called a special meeting of the NEC where the next steps for the party will be discussed.
“Plaid Cymru’s priority remains the wellbeing of its staff and members, and fostering a culture that is safe, inclusive and respectful to all.”
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