Under Adam Price' leadership bad behaviour by elected members was tolerated, the party failed to have a zero-tolerance attitude to sexual harassment and the leadership's in made a bad situation even worse.
These were the findings of a report by the former Senedd Member Nerys Evans into the culture in Plaid Cymru after a WalesOnline investigation exposed serious concerns with the party about how accusations of sexual assault were dealt with. Despite being pretty much as damning as that report was ever going to be, Mr Price has said he won't resign. He says it would be abdicating responsibility to step down and that he wants to make the changes.
Historically Adam Price has been very keen to call on others to resign. Previously he has called, among others, for Vaughan Gething, Carwyn Jones, Boris Johnson, Alun Cairns and Jonathan Edwards to stand aside..
Given the severity of the crisis facing Plaid, given the suffering their own staff has endured and given that the report (that Adam Price has accepted in full) stating that it has actively got worse because of how he handled the situation it begs one simple question - why is Adam Price still Plaid leader?
The Adam Price interview: Plaid leader 'sorry' but won't resign despite damning report on sexual harassment in party
This is not a flippant question. It is absolutely worth exploring how a leader of party, who let's not forget is actively supporting the governing Labour Party in Wales and driving several key policies in the Welsh Parliament, is able to stay in post after such a damning indictment Plaid under his leadership.
Why have none of the other Plaid members moved against him?
Perhaps this question should be why have none of the other Plaid members moved against him yet? This morning there was a meeting planned between the Plaid MSs with multiple members wanting to "actively encourage" Adam to step aside. This didn't reach any conclusions but speaking to different Plaid MSs you get the impression of serious discontent. Two separate elected members described the report as "damning'" and one said they didn't see how his position was tenable.
But at present Adam Price remains leader and there has been no public dissent among MSs. So why? Well there a few things in play here.
The first is that there is no clear candidate to replace him. Rhun ap Iorwerth could perhaps command enough support but he has indicated that he wants to run as an MP at the next General Election (which under Plaid rules would make him ineligible to be leader). There are some promising up-and-comers who might appeal outside the traditional Plaid heartlands but none have dared put their head publicly above parapet so far.
One option mentioned by multiple people was for a senior member of the party such as North Wales MS Llyr Gruffydd to take over in a caretaker role to steer the party through the current turmoil (though neither Llyr or any other have given any indication they want such a role). The party's Westminster leader Liz Saville Roberts has widespread respect within the party but wouldn't be able to contest a Senedd seat until the 2026 election.
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Even if there was a clear candidate, there is no guarantee that they would beat Adam Price in a ballot of members. People within the party are split on how popular he remains with the party faithful but a move against Adam which was then defeated would arguably be more damaging than not acting. It would take a politician with real backbone to risk the repercussions of operating within a party where you challenged the leader.
However not acting carries the very real risk that Plaid's moral authority is totally destroyed. As a collective, they really do feel and act like they are the party of kindness and inclusivity. But while they have a leader who won't leave despite presiding over a culture of the sort exposed in the report, all moral statements from their MSs ring hollow.
Just a few months ago, Plaid Cymru’s spokesperson for sports, Heledd Fychan MS, called on the WRU’s CEO Steve Phillips to resign following the serious allegations of sexism and misogyny at the organisation he runs. She said: “As CEO, Steve Phillips has been in a position to deal with these issues which will have been known to him for some time... as a result, the current CEO should resign, and new leadership brought in to bring about the changes that are desperately needed."
Rhun ap Iorwerth at the start of March said that "if Eluned Morgan won’t resign over Betsi failure, it’s up to the First Minister to remove her”. Is it not time for them to practice what they preach or lose all credibility?
But there are other considerations currently on the weighing scales in Plaid MSs' minds. One is the cooperation agreement with the Welsh Government. Issues like the expansion of the Senedd are dear to the heart of many Plaid MSs and they don't want to risk them. In addition there is the fact that the Standards Commissioner's report into the behaviour of currently suspended Rhys ab Owen is still to come back which could be the straw that breaks the back of Adam Price's leadership (though we have no idea what that report will say).
Why hasn't Adam Price himself resigned?
In an interview with WalesOnline after the report was published, Mr Price was asked why he hadn't resigned and he said: "I'm just a human being. This has been painful, in so many ways to so many people, the pain of having read it, is nothing, of course, to the pain for people who have been hurt by failure to address these problems. But, you have to ask yourself, honestly, what's the right thing to do? And I come to the conclusion, the right thing to do is to help put it right, rather than abdicating my responsibility, which would be running away from the problem."
But ultimately, almost ever single politician who has ever resigned has not done so because it was "the right thing to do" - they have done so because they knew if they weren't going to jump willingly, they would be pushed. He clearly believes that he can hang on. There has always been a feeling that Adam believe he is destined to lead Plaid and Wales to independence. When in your head you are Mab Darogan, the Welsh legend who was destined to free Cymru, you are never going to stand down willingly.
If his members can't find the courage to attempt to remove him, then they will have to live the consequences of what it will do to their own reputations and that of their parties. Be in no doubt, these revelations have not just come to light with the publication of Nery Evans' report, they have been well known with the party for years. The responsibility for inaction falls mainly on the leadership but to allow that leadership to remain in place to clear up the mess they admittedly "made worse" is not just damaging to the party, it is a slap in the face to every person who had the courage to tell the investigation what they had gone through.
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