Jane Dodds to step down as Welsh Liberal Democrat leader

Nation.Cymru staff

Jane Dodds has announced she will stand down as leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats after nearly nine years, saying a new generation should lead the work of rebuilding the party.

Ms Dodds will remain the Member of the Senedd for Brycheiniog Tawe Nedd and said she would focus on holding the Welsh Government to its promises on child poverty.

Nominations for her successor open on October 23 and close on November 16. Under the party’s rules, David Chadwick MP is the only person other than Ms Dodds eligible to seek nomination in the first stage.

Ms Dodds, who became leader in November 2017, said she had reflected on the party’s future following May’s Senedd election.

“Wales needs more than one liberal voice in the Senedd. Building that team will take years of hard work in communities across the country, and I believe that work should be led by a new generation,” she said.

“Now is the right time to hand it over.”

The Welsh Liberal Democrats returned just one MS at the election, leaving Ms Dodds as the party’s sole representative in the expanded Senedd.

She described leading the party as “the honour of my life”, pointing to council election wins and its work on childcare funding and Wales’s status as a Nation of Sanctuary.

Confirming that she would continue in the Senedd, she said: “I’m not going anywhere. I came into politics after 27 years as a child protection social worker because I could not accept the number of children growing up in poverty in Wales.

“Today that is more than 200,000 children. The new Welsh Government has promised to make tackling child poverty its priority. I will hold them to that promise, every single day.”

Ms Dodds served as MP for Brecon and Radnorshire after winning the August 2019 by-election. She was elected to the Senedd for Mid and West Wales in 2021, before being returned for Brycheiniog Tawe Nedd in May this year.

‘Integrity’

Welsh Liberal Democrat president Tim Sly said: “Jane has led our party with warmth, determination and integrity through some of the most turbulent years in Welsh and UK politics.

“She leaves the Welsh Liberal Democrats stronger in our communities and ready to build. On behalf of every member, I want to thank her for her extraordinary service.”

The leadership process initially allows only the party’s MPs and Members of the Senedd to seek nomination, with the support of 50 party members.

If no candidate is successfully nominated at that stage, nominations will open to people on the party’s approved parliamentary candidates list.

A sole nominee will be declared leader without a contest. An election will take place if more than one candidate is nominated.

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