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Adam Price and Rhun ap Iorwerth bid for Plaid leader Plaid Cymru leadership bids by Adam Price and Rhun ap Iorwerth
(35 minutes later)
Adam Price and Rhun ap Iorwerth are to challenge Leanne Wood for the leadership of Plaid Cymru.Adam Price and Rhun ap Iorwerth are to challenge Leanne Wood for the leadership of Plaid Cymru.
Leanne Wood, leader since 2012, said she welcomed a leadership contest and was very confident of winning. Both senior AMs announced their candidacy on Wednesday, triggering a contest in the party.
Ms Wood, leader since 2012, had said she would welcome a challenge and was very confident of winning.
It means a leadership contest is now underway in all but one of the parties represented in the National Assembly.It means a leadership contest is now underway in all but one of the parties represented in the National Assembly.
Both Mr Price and Mr ap Iorwerth announced their candidacy on Wednesday morning, triggering a contest in the party. There have been mounting calls within Plaid Cymru for a leadership challenge, with a window for potential candidates closing at midnight.
There have been mounting calls within Plaid Cymru for a leadership challenge, with a window for potential candidates closing at midnight on Wednesday. Mr Price said calls for change could not be put off, while Mr ap Iorwerth called for a debate that would "energise the party and the country".
Former MP Mr Price had said on Monday he would not challenge Ms Wood for the leadership if she agreed to share the job.Former MP Mr Price had said on Monday he would not challenge Ms Wood for the leadership if she agreed to share the job.
But on Tuesday Ms Wood rejected the proposal and said it was a matter for the membership.But on Tuesday Ms Wood rejected the proposal and said it was a matter for the membership.
He has been urged by his local constituency party - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr - to stand. Launching his campaign, Mr Price said his proposal "remains a practical and progressive way forward and it could have made a traditional contest avoidable".
Mr Price said his proposal "remains a practical and progressive way forward and it could have made a traditional contest avoidable".
"However, media statements soon indicated the negotiations were being undermined," he said."However, media statements soon indicated the negotiations were being undermined," he said.
"So we must park the proposal for the time being and revert to established procedure.""So we must park the proposal for the time being and revert to established procedure."
He said: "But we cannot put off the irresistible call for defining change. Mr Price added: "We cannot put off the irresistible call for defining change.
"Change in the way we frame our politics; the projection of who we are, what we stand for, what we have fought long and hard for and what's ultimately important to us.""Change in the way we frame our politics; the projection of who we are, what we stand for, what we have fought long and hard for and what's ultimately important to us."
Mr ap Iorwerth was the first to launch his campaign, via a social media video on Wednesday, saying Ms Wood had invited a debate on the leadership and that supporters and party members across Wales had "encouraged me to allow my name to go forward".
He said: "That encouragement has come from people at all elected levels, but mainly from ordinary party members, including some who, I'm quite sure, will back Leanne!"
Mr ap Iorwerth said he was accepting the nominations in the spirit of a "constructive debate" that can "energise the party and the country".
"My commitment is to Wales, and to a fairer and more prosperous future for the country," he said.
"Plaid Cymru has to lead the way to that new, confident Wales".
Before joining the assembly, Mr ap Iorwerth was a reporter and presenter for BBC Wales, and presented Newyddion 9 on S4C.
He became an AM in a by-election in 2013, succeeding former Plaid leader Ieuan Wyn Jones who stepped down from the assembly to run a science park.
Earlier in June Mr ap Iorwerth told a press conference that he had "no plans and neither does anyone else have plans to put their name forward in that particular window".
Mr Price was an MP for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr from 2001 to 2010.
An attempt he and other MPs made to impeach Tony Blair over the Iraq War in 2004 failed.
After voluntarily leaving the Commons in 2010 he embarked on a Fulbright scholarship at Harvard University. He was elected to the Welsh Assembly in 2016, once again representing Carmarthen East and Dinefwr.