Rhun ap Iorwerth declares Plaid Cymru leadership bid

Rhun ap Iorwerth has declared he will stand to be the leader of Plaid Cymru.

In a video released on social media, the Ynys Mon Senedd member said he looks forward to playing his part in uniting his party.

Plaid Cymru is looking for a new leader after Adam Price stood down earlier this month.

It followed reports that a toxic culture of harassment, bullying and misogyny had got worse under his leadership.

Mr ap Iorwerth paid tribute to former leader Mr Price, to interim leader Llyr Gruffydd, and did not shy away from concerns about culture within Plaid, saying the party was "serious about the task ahead".

He said Plaid Cymru must offer a vision of Wales as "confident, fair, green, prosperous and, with the tools at our disposal right now, on the journey to independence".

Mr ap Iorwerth had previously said he would stand as a candidate to represent the constituency at the UK general election.

Although he did not address this directly, he said in his campaign launch video that he was "committed as ever to Ynys Mon", but added that now is the time to "unite Plaid Cymru".

He is the party's deputy leader and has been Plaid spokesperson on health in recent years, being a vocal critic of the Welsh government's record on the troubled Betsi Cadwaladr health board in north Wales.

He also ran for the leadership in 2018, when Mr Price replaced Leanne Wood.

Nominations for the leadership close on 16 June and Rhun ap Iorwerth is the first candidate to declare that they will stand.

His bid was immediately backed by Plaid Cymru's Westminster leader.

In a social media video released shortly after his announcement that he will stand, Liz Saville Roberts said: "We need someone who will unite us as we move ahead with the Nerys Evans report and its' recommendations to finally stamp out bullying and harassment within the party.

"We also need a strong communicator, and I have every confidence that Rhun ap Iorwerth will be an excellent front person to convey Plaid's core message."Only a Member of the Senedd (MS) is eligible to be the party's leader.

Elin Jones and Heledd Fychan have ruled themselves out of the race, but none of the other eligible members have confirmed their intentions.

Ms Jones, who is also the Senedd's presiding officer, has called for the party to back one winner to avoid a drawn out leadership race.

Rhun ap Iorwerth's announcement isn't unexpected.

He had already said he was thinking about standing and he's probably the person most people would have automatically thought of as Plaid Cymru's next leader when Adam Price announced his resignation.

But one consideration that could have dissuaded him from standing is that he has already been selected as Plaid's Ynys Mon candidate at the next general election.

If he was to be elected to Westminster, he would have to stand down as a Member of the Senedd in Cardiff Bay, and only an MS can lead Plaid Cymru.

So where does this announcement leave Mr ap Iorwerth's Westminster ambitions?

That's a question he chose not address in his announcement video, but will have to answer soon.

In the meantime, the question for the other would-be candidates, who are all less experienced than Rhun ap Iorwerth, is this.

Do they fancy the challenge or should this be a coronation?