Llyr Gruffydd’s appointment is expected to be rubber-stamped on Saturday
Plaid Cymru will confirm its new acting leader on Saturday after Adam Price resigned in the wake of a damning report into the party’s culture.
The national council is set to ratify Llyr Gruffydd’s nomination after he was backed by the party’s Senedd group.
He will be in charge until a permanent leader is elected, with the timetable for that to be announced “at the earliest possible opportunity”.
That new leader will be in place in the summer, according to Plaid.
Mr Price’s resignation came a week after a report found misogyny, harassment and bullying in the party, and followed claims in recent months of a “toxic culture”.
Mr Gruffydd has said the party should focus on “moving forward together to deliver on behalf of the people of Wales, and to foster a better culture”.
“I hope members will entrust me with the responsibility of leading that work until we elect a new leader,” he said after his nomination by Plaid Cymru Members of the Senedd.
Image source, Getty Images
Adam Price was Plaid Cymru leader for just under five years
What is the national council?
It is the sort of organisation you usually only hear about when a party is looking for a new leader and it represents the wider membership.
It sits between the party’s leading authority – national conference – and the national executive, which meets more regularly.
The constitution of the party says that if something extraordinary happens in the party, the executive decides what to do and seeks the approval of the council.
It meets only three or four times a year, and Saturday is expected to be a rubber-stamping exercise.
But it is where senior figures can take the temperature of the party, and where members – behind closed doors – feel more free to express their views out of the glare of cameras.
It is convened when big decisions are needed, like in 2007 to agree the then-coalition with Labour when more than 200 people went.
In theory hundreds of people are eligible to go, but BBC Wales has been told that, usually, about 100 show up.
There are representatives of local government, elected MSs and MPs, every member of the national executive and representatives of every constituency, as well as party groups such as the women’s section.
