Adam Price ‘may leave Carmarthenshire and seek a Senedd seat in Cardiff’
Martin Shipton
Plaid Cymru members have been speculating that the party’s former leader Adam Price may leave his home county of Carmarthenshire and stand as a candidate in Cardiff at the next Senedd election in 2026.
Nation.Cymru has been told by Plaid insiders that Mr Price would struggle to get selected for a winnable seat on his home patch under the new “closed list” electoral system that is being brought in to coincide with the increase in the number of MSs from 60 to 96.
Under the new arrangements, Wales will be split into 16 “super constituencies”, each electing six Senedd Members by a form of proportional representation. 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.
Super constituency
One prominent local Plaid member told us: “There will be one super constituency covering the whole of Carmarthenshire, combining the two Westminster seats of Caerfyrddin and Llanelli. Plaid could win two seats out of the six, but to win a third would be a big stretch and probably isn’t feasible.
“Cefin Campbell was elected as a regional Senedd Member for Mid and West Wales in 2021 under the old electoral system. He 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.”
Cardiff West
This Plaid source and another said they had heard the suggestion that Mr Price would stand instead in Cardiff. The second party source told us: “There’s a strong rumour going around that Adam knows he won’t be able to beat Cefin, and that he’ll try instead to get selected as a candidate in Cardiff, where obviously he is well known. He has a home in the Cardiff West constituency and he won’t be going up against a sitting male Senedd Member because Rhys ab Owen is no longer in the party.”
Mr ab Owen was elected as a Plaid MS for the South Wales Central region in 2021, but has sat as an Independent since being suspended from Plaid after being accused of inappropriately touching two women when drunk on a night out. The Senedd’s Standards Committee upheld a complaint against Mr ab Owen and he was suspended from the Senedd for six weeks. In July 2024 he was expelled by Plaid after a disciplinary process, meaning he won’t be eligible to stand as a candidate for the party in Cardiff or anywhere else in 2026.
Other sources have told Nation.Cymru that Mr Price fully intends to stand for Plaid at the next election.
We sent him a detailed message telling him we had heard the rumour and asked him to comment. Mr Price did not respond directly, but a spokesman for him contacted us to say: “I categorically deny the suggestion that Adam intends to stand in Cardiff.” The spokesman would not elaborate further.
Final decision
However, another party source pointed out that Plaid had yet to make a final decision about how its Senedd candidates will be selected. Sitting MSs are understood to favour an arrangement under which they are given preferential treatment, although Plaid’s national executive committee voted against such a move recently.
Under the current boundary proposals, Cardiff North would be twinned with Cardiff South & Penarth to form one super constituency. Plaid Cymru would be expected to win at least one of the six seats, and possibly two.
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 Convid 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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We see the candidate fixing to prioritise a woman results in displacing a gay man from Carmarthenshire. Meanwhile Adam deploys a parachute as a profile into Cardiff West to try to block a McEvoy challenge.
“McEvoy challenge” LOL…
Most people have seen through him by now, He’s a bully and a liar, and (as I have personally experienced) his interactions on social media are openly abusive…
Maybe it’s just you that pi**es him off !
That he can’t civilly answer questions on how he proposes to achieve his ‘policy statements’ show that he is not fit for elected office, never mind the open abuse he regularly engages in…
The people who decide who is fit for elected office are the voters. A democracy can only fall into autocracy by means of pre-vetting. Who can or cannot stand for election.
Any limits on that? Convicted killer ok? Candidate lives in Moscow?
To answer your question. There is existing vetting on criminality and citizenship. With a new criteria of residency. So a Dylis from Cardiff is valid but a Rob from Wokingham cannot stand.
Pountney below just smears with no foundation. There have been plenty like him over the years purporting to be pro-Wales. Their input is to the contrary.
I know. I don’t even have to see them, their smell is telling.
I remember well even if you don’t Mr McEvoy… I pressed you on how exactly you were going to finance your policy of selling off social housing to residents at subsidised prices, particularly since you were adamant that each house sold at discount would finance 2 new homes for social housing, you responded by calling me ‘a beta male creep’… No doubt you consider yourself to be an ‘Alpha male’, but lets be honest, like your ‘mens rights’ crusade it’s just shows you up to be the populist extremist that you are… You have repeatedly resorted to personal abuse because… Read more »
What have you ever done Comrade Pountney? What’s your record? I campaign for Children’s Rights btw. Oh and was in court past week assisting a constituent beat the Council & win compensation. That’s why I get elected time after time. You insult the mirror. Take a look at yourself.
If there were more councillors like Mr McEvoy he is always active for the residents The only time you see or here from councillors is near voting and they are all yes men That’s why public services have declined Cardiff Council are in debt up to their eyeballs not because it’s been spent on public services it’s been wasted on chief executives manager’s inflated salaries and pensions also on huge amounts on advisors because they don’t know what to do That’s why the capital city was left without a bus station for over nine years, And the City Centre is… Read more »
I think what your describing is not Adam Price as a parachutist but Adam Price as a paratrooper.
It will not be the chattering classes of the Pontcanna coffee bar who will decide who wins seats in Cardiff West and South, but decided by those on the housing estates like Ely. Labour would rather Reform than be usurped by an individual or any party for national independence. Wales is a country of diverse communities so success depends on nativism not transplants, something Plaid Cymru has not learnt in the face of both success and of failure.
If Neil McEvoy stands as a candidate what would stop ‘those on the housing estates like Ely.’ or anywhere else in the constituency voting for Neil McEvoy?
The realisation that he is a nasty piece of work…
Surely Cardiff West is going to be twinned with Cardiff South?
He would complain bitterly if someone from left their Cardiff seat and sought election in Carmarthen!
Not Carmarthen, but Trimsaran. The last two candidates standing for the Llanelli seat were parachuted in from Cardiff, although both of childhood residency. Have no doubt one of these, Mari Arthur will be on the candidate list, shipped in from Cardiff as an alternate woman.
Alternate woman ? Is that a new term for “nonreal woman”? These list rigging exercises must be creating a new wave of internal crises for these parties so fixated with getting 50/50 by whatever convoluted means.
At issue for Plaid is not just the alternate gender on the candidate list but a wider problem of candidate selection. The new mega-constituency includes Llanelli which for purpose of selecting their candidates at elections is, in effect, a client branch of party headquarters. Unlike Caerfyrddin, Llanelli candidates locally have a history of being ruled unsuitable.
In this case “unsuitable” just means not prepared to toe any old party line. Too many good old boys and girls in the town of the Sospan able to distinguish between the real pressing issues and the body of fantasist ishoos handed down by H.Q. Will the Cardiff crach ever learn?
That’s jist is what Leanne said in Llanelli when she appeared to adjudicate. She went on to say she was powerless. She was reminded at the time “But you’re party leader!”. I wonder if Rhun has the respect, command and authority not previously enjoyed by Leanne and Adam? The impact in Felinfoel is the same if that trick was played in Penygraig or Bryngwran. Shooting ones own foot. Unnecessary and strategically inept. Just to grease the poles of SpAds in the Bae.
More reasons why closed lists should be banned, easily gerrymandered by the party against local popular member.
Wales needs more Adam Price’s less Welsh Labour & Conservative MSs. I don’t care where he, Adam Price , stands so long as Wales retain his political calibre. Why? Because next Senedd election Wales will face those who want to destroy Wales in Reform UK , who will essentially get elected, do nothing and receive wage like those crooks in UKip & Brexit like those failed Tory ticks Nathan Gill & Neil Hamilton did. And just look at the recent language of Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies. Knowing his fate is trying to lean his party towards the extreme… Read more »
Agree every word, very true.
That’s the thing isn’t it? We reason away criticism of parachuted candidates when it’s someone we want. If this was Labour we’d all take issue with some non local candidates someplace they don’t really know. Do we need more Adam Price? The Senedd expansion and closed lists are going to be a big thing around the next election and will no doubt fuel support for the very people who – as you say – want to destroy Wales. These were things agree upon while Adam Price was leader. We shouldn’t bicker you’re right. But just because a person wears the… Read more »
Here’s a radical idea – lets select candidates on merit – regardless of gender. Just a thought!
Price has flatly denied this suggestion. Why has this story still been written in this way?
I think you’ll find it’s Rhys ab Owen who’s been shown the Plaid Cymru exit, not his brother Rhodri—who’s probably ringing Carter-Ruck faster than you can say “libel”. Always handy to have a lawyer on speed dial, isn’t it? As for Adam, bless him, he’s likely going through one of his ‘off’ spells. Carmarthen loves him, though, so I’d bet my last pint of Brains he’ll breeze past Cefin without breaking a sweat. Now, Rhun… well, he should really give Neil a call and coax him back to run in the capital. The man’s got a fan club in Cardiff… Read more »
You are right about Rhun. I have said the same thing to McEvoy, so you never know. Before he was cancelled, NM was on course to displace the Labour FM. The issue with Rhun ap Iorwerth is whether he can prove that Plaid is on the way to displacing Labour. And project common sense Indy to the 50%+ who don’t vote in Wales. Might mean a coalition with Welsh Tories for a bit, but that’s democracy for you. Here’s a policy for a Plaid/Con pact – beef up the Welsh Revenue Authority to collect all/most revenue in Wales. Would be an… Read more »
After 2026 Plaid might even have to examine its position visavis Reform. They could be a bigger group than Tories. Depends how much anyone wants to shift the Labour carcass out of the roadway.
You assume that Labour MSs will be of one mind and intact as the Senedd election approaches. For some in Labour the toxic pills coming down the M4 from London might be too much to stomach. I wonder if any have guts to stand up for Wales rather than be Starmer stooges. Also, it’s wrong to assume Reform is a coherent political party. It’s populist which means the trajectory of any elected members will be diverse and unpredictable.
Why only after 2026? But, yes, Neil McEvoy (Propel) and I have discussed Reform in Wales too. The issue is the 50% + who don’t vote in Wales. Seems existing Welsh parties don’t reflect their views. If you want moderate policies for Wales that might see off Reform you could do worse than look at the website of Gwlad, which Gwlad are revising. My personal thing is for Wales to write our own Bill of Rights. This is Jenrick policy for the UK, and puts him ahead of Reform. All to play for, but Wales needs to get its act… Read more »
All this arises because the type of PR system being forced on us is a closed list system onto the people of Cymru by the labour party autocracy. This system is least favorable in a democracy as it separates the individual candidate from their electorate. No country has adapted the close list system as their sole elected chamber: except of course Israel :- I don’t think we should follow a country who’s government is committing war crimes, do we? The whole thing is a Lab-Con conspiracy for the UK to continue to hold on to Cymru as a British colony.… Read more »
Gerrymandering at its best! Not just that the party chooses the winner but also that party can parachute a candidate into a constituency! How near to the top of a list will a favoured candidate be placed, I wonde?