South Wales East AM Lindsay Whittle has backed fellow Plaid Cymru member Leanne Wood in her bid to lead the party.
Former Caerphilly Council leader Mr Whittle has joined fellow Plaid AM Bethan Jenkins in his support of Ms Wood.
He said: “Plaid Cymru has to re-establish itself as the progressive opposition to not only to Labour in Wales but the ConDem government in London.
“Leanne has an excellent track record of scrutinising and harassing politicians to ensure the voice of the ordinary person is heard in the corridors of power. No Minister is safe from her probing questions, no level of government can hide from her tenacity. She is the Welsh terrier that politics in Wales has needed for some time.
“Under her leadership, I believe that Plaid Cymru can become an effective fighting machine, ready for that great stride into effective government. We need a woman of the people to lead us. Leanne is that woman.”
Ms Wood said: “It is very heartening to be endorsed for my leadership bid by two hard-working and prominent members of Plaid Cymru.”
Leanne Wood seems to be an excellent choice for the Plaid leadership. She has a good track record in politics and is unafraid to voice what Plaid Cymru stands for, which is an independent Wales.
This is what Plaid was set up to do, not to be a inferior shadow of the Labour Party. I am sure she will stick to her principles, however unpopular they may be with Welsh voters. Her predecessors, Dafydd Wigley, sorry, Baron Wigley of Caernarfon and Elis Thomas (AKA Baron Elis-Thomas, of Nant Conwy) had very different ideas of how a Welsh political leader should conduct themselves from those of Ms. Wood. Let us all hope she is elected to lead the party and introduces some fire into a lack lustre political scene in Wales.
This is almost turning into a love fest, though not a member of Plaid, I agree with Lindsay and Richard, Leanne Wood, being a Valley Girl, a woman,a south Walian and an unabashed socialist would be an ideal leader for Plaid. A supporter of the south Wales radical tradition and could a home for the those memebers, of and voters for, the the Labour Party, who still dont realise that the Labour Party has left them for the metropolitan chattering classes . Its lucky theres no good Valley boy, like Ron Davies, Adam Price or even Lindsay himself was in the running, because it would split the vote.
Who cares about the leadership of Plaid, they are a busted flush in politics.