Rhun ap Iorwerth has been appointed as the new leader of Plaid Cymru. He was announced as the new leader of the party at midday on Friday in Cardiff.
Adam Price stepped down as leader earlier in May after a damning report found toxic culture of harassment, bullying and misogyny within the party. For the past few weeks, no candidate has said they will run as leader, though both the likes of Elin Jones and Heledd Fychan had ruled themselves out as prospective leaders.
Mr ap Iorwerth was widely regarded as one of the leading contenders to replace Adam Price, having come second to him in the last leadership election. But, he had previously indicated that he planned to stand as the Plaid candidate for Ynys Môn in the next General Election, which would have mean he would be ineligible to be party leader as Plaid rules state that the leader must be a member of the Senedd.
Read more: Partygate report five key points as Boris Johnson found to have misled Commons
However at the end of May, the politician announced his candidacy to his followers on Twitter, saying that "in recent weeks we in Plaid Cymru have found ourselves at a cross roads" and that he was "serious about the task ahead".
In the video shared on Twitter, he also said that he was looking forward to playing his part in uniting the party. Previously, he has said the party must offer a vision of Wales as "confident, fair, green, prosperous" and lead it on a "journey to independence".
Who is Rhun ap Iorwerth?
Rhun ap Iorwerth was born in Tonteg, Rhondda Cynon Taf to Edward and Gwyneth Morus Jones, before his family moved to north Wales. He lived in Meirionnydd in Gwynedd, before the family then relocated to Anglesey. He was brought up on the island and received his education at Ysgol David Hughes.
He then went on to study Politics and Welsh at Cardiff University. He is a fluent Welsh speaker, married to his wife Llinos and has three children called Elen, Siwan, and Osian. The family currently reside in Llangristiolus near Llangefni on Anglesey.
For almost 20 years before being elected, Rhun worked as a journalist and broadcaster, mainly for the BBC. He joined BBC Wales in 1994 and worked for some time in Westminster before returning to Wales after the 1997 devolution vote. He also worked as Chief Political Correspondent, BBC Network News correspondent as well as a presenter on a wide range of television and radio programmes both in English and Welsh.
In 2013, former Plaid Cymru leader Ieuan Wyn Jones announced his resignation from the Ynys Môn seat, which prompted a by-election in the constituency. Soon after, Mr ap Iorwerth announced that he was stepping down from his news presenting role to pursue a Plaid Cymru nomination in the Welsh Assembly Anglesey by-election.
In August of that year, the politician had won his seat with 12,601 of the votes and was appointed the Assembly Member for Ynys Môn. In an interview with WalesOnline in 2013, which you can read more about here, Mr ap Iorwerth spoke about how the death of his mother, Mrs Morus Jones, played a crucial role in his decision to give up his broadcasting career and to seek a new role in politics.
Gwyneth Morus Jones, a teacher by profession, was a former president of nursery schools organisation Mudiad Ysgolion Meithrin, of the teaching union UCAC and the national women’s movement Merched y Wawr. She also served on the Welsh Language Board and was president-elect of the Union of Welsh Independent Churches and chair of the North Wales Valuation Tribunal.
When asked how easy the decision to seek election had been, Rhun said: "Very difficult in some ways. It was a matter of throwing away a career that I enjoyed immensely, and there was the possibility that I could take with me to the end of my working days. But on the other hand [it was] very easy too, because I had always, I think, had a desire to serve my community and to serve my nation if that opportunity would ever arise.
"And it came about in a way where it was possible – because to have a by-election left the door open, where for simple practical reasons of putting food on the table at home it would have been very difficult to do otherwise. So once I saw the opportunity, it was remarkably easy to come to the decision.
He added: "My mother [Gwyneth Morus Jones] died in December last year. I think that, in somebody’s life, puts a lot in perspective. We’re not here for a long time and I know my mother made a huge contribution to her community and to Wales. Seeing the things said about her and the gratitude shown towards the work she’d done showed me quite clearly that I couldn’t go through life without making a contribution if that was at all possible."
In 2018, the Anglesey politician was the runner-up in a previous Plaid Cymru leadership contest, which saw his predecessor Adam Price coming in first place with 49.7% of the vote, Mr ap Iorwerth coming in second position with 28% and former leader Leanne Wood, who had been leading the party for six years, coming in third place with 22.3%.
In the past, he served as a shadow minister for the economy and transport, health and care, and finance and as a member of the corresponding Assembly and Senedd committees. At various times, he's also been a member of the Public Accounts Committee, the Petitions Committee, and the Standards Committee and has also served as a Senedd Commissioner and as deputy leader of the Plaid Cymru group during the Fifth Senedd.
Before his appointment as Plaid Cymru leader, he stood as the party's joint deputy leader alongside Siân Gwenllian MS, and as the party's health spokesperson. Over recent months, he has strongly criticised the Welsh Government for their handling of the troubled health board, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, in north Wales.
READ NEXT:
- Deputy leader of Anglesey council steps down after saying 'all Tories should be shot'
- Welsh Government u-turns on artificial grass ban
- The Welsh NHS is on its knees and this is who put it there - a special report
- 'No short-term fix' for Wales' most troubled health board
- Cynon Valley MP Beth Winter hits out angrily after losing selection contest
