Plaid Cymru has announced its new interim leader following the resignation of Adam Price over a damning report into misogyny, harassment and bullying in the pro-independence party.

Llyr Gruffydd MS, who represents the North Wales region in the Welsh Parliament, was unanimously nominated by the Plaid Cymru Senedd Group on Thursday morning. 

His position will be confirmed by the party’s National Council on Saturday before a leadership contest gets underway to elect a permanent head by the summer.

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Mr Price told members on Wednesday night that he was quitting as leader after a review discovered a “toxic” culture in the party.

The  Prosiect Pawb report led by former Plaid politician Nerys Evans, published earlier this month, found party had “failed to implement a zero-tolerance approach to sexual harassment” and that women had been “especially” let down.

It said that inherent power imbalances within the party “coupled with inaction over many years from those with positions of power to challenge bad behaviour, has made a bad situation even worse”.

Evidence from an anonymous staff survey and elected members “highlight cases of sexual harassment, bullying and discrimination”, the report said, claiming: “These are not isolated cases.”

Mr Price had led the party since 2018, following time spent as an MP in Westminster before going on to represent Carmarthen East and Dinefwr in the Welsh Assembly.

He was also heavily involved in the party’s co-operation deal with Welsh Labour that saw them agree to work together on 50 policy areas.

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Liz Saville Roberts, the party’s Westminster leader, said Mr Price had become a “distraction.”

“A week is a long time in politics and in discussions with the Senedd members I think it became clear that Adam himself was becoming a distraction and in spite of our real gratitude to him and his legacy to Wales, frankly… that really that within that time it became necessary if we were to move ahead, that we needed to move ahead,” she told BBC Radio Wales. 

She denied there had been a cover up, telling BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We undertook this report from Nerys Evans and we put a thorough summary into the public domain. If we were covering it up, we wouldn’t have done that.”

Asked whether the party had put their reputation before the need to crack down on harassment, bullying and misogyny, Ms Saville Roberts, who was on the working group that produced the Prosiect Pawb report, told the programme: “You actually have to find a way within a party, a relatively small party, of bringing about change.”

She said the group initially “felt strongly” that “we needed a collegiate approach to the party because it cuts across all aspects of the party”.

“It requires a change of culture and in order to do that we would need stability,” Ms Saville Roberts said.

Welsh Conservatives leader Andrew RT Davies said that the exit of Mr Price had become “inevitable”.

“I have no doubt Adam Price’s departure is a moment of personal sadness for him,” he tweeted.

“Following the recent report into the culture within their Party, it became clear Plaid Cymru politicians no longer had confidence in his leadership, so Adam’s departure became inevitable.

“On a personal level, I wish Adam and his family well for the future and hope that he is now given the space and time to reflect on what that future might look like.”