Adam Price ‘likely to be in fight for his political life’
Martin Shipton
Former Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price could soon find himself in a fight for his political life, with the likelihood that he will be in a selection battle with fellow MS Cefin Campbell.
The situation arises because of the radical change to the Senedd’s electoral system being introduced for the election in May 2026.
Under the change, MSs who want to continue their careers need to be selected as a candidate in one of 16 new “super constituencies”. Each super constituency will elect six Senedd Members by a form of proportional representation using closed lists of candidates.
People will vote for a party rather than for individuals, and parties will choose the order in which its candidates will be elected, if they win sufficient votes.
Carmarthen East & Dinefwr
Mr Price currently represents the constituency of Carmarthen East & Dinefwr, which has been held by Plaid Cymru since the then National Assembly came into being in 1999. Following boundary changes, a larger seat called Caerfyrddin has been created. Caerfyrddin will be twinned with the neighbouring seat of Llanelli to form one of the new super constituencies, and Mr Price has stated his intention to seek selection in it.
However, Nation.Cymru has been told by Plaid Cymru insiders that Mr Price may struggle to get selected for a winnable place on the party’s closed list in Caerfyrddin / Llanelli.
While Plaid could win two seats out of the six available, it’s thought highly unlikely that the party could take a third seat.
The party has confirmed that it will not give preferential treatment to sitting MSs in the selection contests. It will also have a “zipping” system, under which it would not be possible for male candidates to hold the top two places on the closed lists.
Cefin Campbell was elected as a regional Senedd Member for Mid and West Wales in 2021 under the old electoral system.
‘Very popular’
One Plaid source told us: “Cefin very quickly established himself as an effective representative, is very popular among party members and it is thought highly likely that he would beat Adam in a selection contest for top spot on the new Carmarthenshire closed list.
“Plaid is very likely to have a candidate selection process which alternates male and female candidates. That would mean that a woman would take the second spot on the list and Adam would be left in third position and very unlikely to win a seat in the Senedd.”
Last year there was a rumour in Plaid circles that Mr Price would give up on Carmarthenshire and seek selection for a seat in Cardiff, where Rhys ab Owen, the MS elected for Plaid at the last election in 2021, was expelled from the party after being suspended from the Senedd for inappropriately touching two women when drunk on a night out.
However, Mr Price’s team issued a statement at the time that said: “In order to dispel rumours, Adam announces that he intends seeking nomination as one of the Plaid Cymru candidates in Carmarthenshire in 2026.”
That statement prompted a further rumour – that Cefin Campbell wouldn’t seek to stand in Carmarthenshire, but instead in the adjacent super constituency covering Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire.
Seeking election
Nation.Cymru has been told that Mr Campbell has ruled out that option, and that he will definitely be seeking election in Carmarthenshire. When we asked him about his intentions, Mr Campbell responded: “I am making an official statement next week, so hold tight!”
A longstanding Plaid Cymru member in Carmarthenshire said: “Cefin has been working very hard in the constituency, making sure he meets as many members as he can. He was a county councillor before being elected to the Senedd and is very embedded in his local community, as well as Carmarthenshire as a whole. Although Adam is from Carmarthenshire, he hasn’t spent as much time here recently as Cefin has. That could tell against him in the selection contest.”
It also seems likely that former Mid and West Wales Assembly Member Nerys Evans will seek selection for Plaid in Carmarthenshire, providing another challenge for Mr Price. The longstanding Plaid local source said: “Nerys is also popular locally and will win support from people in the old Carmarthen West seat, where she has previously stood.”
The selection of candidates for the new seats is expected to take place over the next few months.
A Plaid Cymru spokesperson told us: “Plaid Cymru is looking forward to selecting outstanding candidates from across Wales that will represent our communities in the next parliament.
“We will begin the selection process to ensure community and national champions are in place as soon as possible.
“To promote women’s participation and ensure equal representation, a zipping system will be in place, along the principles introduced with the gender quotas bill recently introduced to Parliament.
“The selection process will be fair and transparent, with each member having one vote. There will be no incumbency.
“Plaid Cymru is confident that next year’s Senedd elections will feature exceptional candidates from every corner of Wales.”
Career break
Mr Price was elected as the MP for Carmarthen East & Dinefwr in 2001, holding the seat until 2010 when he took a career break to study at Harvard University’s renowned Kennedy School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 2016 he returned to elected politics, becoming the MS for his old constituency.
In 2018 he was elected leader of Plaid Cymru amid high hopes that the party would return to government three years later. But the impact of Brexit and the Covid pandemic changed the political landscape, and Plaid performed below expectations in the 2021 Senedd election.
In 2023 Mr Price resigned as party leader following allegations of bullying and sexual harassment involving members of Plaid’s staff at the Senedd.
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Wasn’t Nerys Evans also and more currently the “member for Deryn public affairs”, lobbyists of renown? And didn’t she draft the report into Plaid’s sexual harassment and bullying which brought Adam Price down? Interesting times!
The sexual harrassment was already there – Nerys Evans was given the unenviable task of documenting it. She cant be blamed for producing a report she was delegated to do by the party.
He should have commissioned Elfyn Llwyd to do the report, he’d have found there was nothing to see and the victims were to blame.
It’s fascinating how that decision played out. Adam, seemingly shocked by the legal fees S4C was paying for a similar exercise, accepted Nerys’ offer to write the report for free. But why? It’s not as if she didn’t need the paid work—something Deryn’s accounts make clear. That choice ultimately destroyed his leadership. Fortunately for Wales, the equally talented Rhun stepped in. It’s remarkable that a small party, at a UK level, had such an embarrassment of riches with both available. But the snakes in Plaid Cymru shouldn’t try that stunt again—there’s no one else on the horizon, and the last… Read more »
What brought Adam Price down (in the end) was that under his leadership, Plaid had totally failed to take the action recommended in the report to tackle misogyny and sexual harassment in his party.
What does misogyny mean, and can you provide clear, proven examples of someone within Plaid Cymru engaging in such behavior? Too often, people repeat buzzwords without fully understanding their meaning or rely on hearsay rather than facts. Misuse of these terms can have serious consequences—Neil McEvoy’s career in Plaid Cymru was effectively destroyed by such allegations, despite being the party’s most effective campaigner. Under his leadership, Plaid Cymru became a real force in Cardiff, yet since his departure, the party has struggled in Wales’s largest city.
The review in question was called ‘Prosiect Pawb’. You can search for it and read it. It was a formal review – not a form of gossip, as you seem to misunderstand it. It made 82 recommendations to reduce harassment, bullying and misogyny. Adam Price did a bit of public handwringing about it – then failed to enact the recommendations.
Cardiff West had some strong PC support before NM and after him.
Ah yes, the tale of two candidates – one with coal dust practically embedded in his DNA and the other with what we can only assume is a well-thumbed copy of The Art of Lobbying for Dummies in his briefcase. The idea of Adam Price standing anywhere but Carmarthenshire is almost as absurd as suggesting the coal-mining communities would suddenly turn out for someone who inspires less charisma than a damp chalkboard. Adam’s family legacy in the area is so ingrained, he could probably campaign just by leaving a photo of his dad on a pub table. Meanwhile, Cefin Campbell… Read more »
Coal mining communities? This is 2025 not 1955
I am aware of the year; but the area AP comes from is still essentially defined by its coal mining past & colliers have long memories .
Don’t think that personal invective is the way we should conduct ourselves in Plaid Dewi
I think you meant to say “in Plaid Cymru, Dewi” not “in Plaid Dewi.” A small slip, but a reminder that we should be more careful with our words—both in and out of the witness box.
Have you visited Carmarthenshire lately? Not many miners there these days. I fear you, like too many other’s in Plaid, are stuck in the past….a past which never even existed
Well, the powers-that-be in the Senedd have opted for the closed list system. Maybe Adam Price isn’t wholly happy about all the implications of that, and if that’s so I wouldn’t wholly disagree with him. But nevertheless that’s the decision which has democratically been made, and both Mr Price and I are duty bound to live with it. If, over time, its disadvantages suggest that in fact it’s just not bearable, then we have the option, democratically, to change it. There’s no way, in any human society, which enables any of us to be guaranteed to have exactly what we… Read more »
I can’t see why Adam cannot stand in a Cardiff seat. His children attend school there, so very attached to the area.
His children attend school in Cardiff because he has to be there most of the week for work. On the days he doesn’t need to be in Cardiff—which aren’t school days—he spends his time home in Carmarthenshire. He’s very popular in the east of the county, where most of the population lives, and sidelining him could upset voters in those areas. As for Cefin Campbell—what has he actually done? I haven’t heard of any notable initiatives from him. By the end of the next Senedd term, he’ll be well into his mid-seventies, which is too old to be an effective… Read more »
Executed a ruthless coup against Leanne – what goes around comes around.
Good luck to Cefin.
I don’t get the outrage from some on this, Adam Price should have to contest selection the same as everyone else. If he is as popular as some argue then he shouldn’t have a problem getting top spot, should he?
Adam Price has outstayed his welcome. It wasn’t just Brexit and Covid that affected Plaid’s performance, under his leadership (these things affected every party). He failed to increase the vote for Plaid, and ultimately had to resign when after a detailed report into sexism, misogyny and sexual harassment in Plaid made recommendations to tackle these serious issues, he failed to implement any of them. Apart from this blind spot when it comes to women’s issues, he hasn’t endeared himself to rank and file membership in general, and that seems likely to be a problem now. He lives in one of… Read more »
If he’s now a Cardiff boy then he should stand in Cardiff.
What do you mean by a “blind spot regarding women’s issues”? Are you referring to an inability to discuss a lady’s menstrual cycle? Because if so, may I kindly draw your attention to Adam’s sterling track record in the Senedd, where he’s been a champion for providing free sanitary towels to all menstruating people in Wales (yes, I said people—not girls, women, or females, because we’re all about inclusivity here, not just a select club of those who know how to spell “XX chromosomes”). He’s also signed the Senedd petition on this very matter—link below for your convenience: https://business.senedd.wales/documents/s116902/Research%20brief.pdf Hardly… Read more »
“a lady’s menstrual cycle”. My, my. Then you want to say “menstruating people” too. Hilarious. Signing a petition about tampons isn’t the stunning civil rights gesture you think it it. If an independent review is damning of a party under your leadership – singling out bullying, harassment and misogyny – and you fail to address it – then yes. You have a blind spot for women’s issues. Now, why don’t you give Prosiect Pawb a read, if you’ve got some free time. Instead of googling periods.
The whole premise of the article is based on one anonymous person’s opinion.