Jane Dodds has announced she is to stand for the leadership of the Welsh Liberal Democrats party.
She has twice failed to oust Montgomeryshire’s Conservative MP Glyn Davies and also stood unsuccessfully against Russell George in the last Welsh Assembly elections.
Earlier this year the Conservatives retained Montgomeryshire at General Election with Glyn Davies receiving an increased majority, with 18,075 votes, up 6.8 per cent on the 2015 election, for a 9,285 majority. The Liberal vote dropped by 4.1%.
But she has now thrown her hat into the ring for the leadership role in Wales with a rallying call to rebuild the party’s reputation.
She took to Facebook to say: “I am delighted to have been announced as a candidate in the election for leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, along with Liz Evans from Ceredigion.
“I want to rebuild our reputation for being at the cutting edge of new radical policy ideas for Wales.”
She also pledged to build Welsh Liberal Democrat membership to 4,000 in Wales inside five years, to double the number of Lib/Dem councillors by 2021, to win back Assembly seats and get a team of representatives back in Westminster.
“Wales faces challenges like never before,” she said. “Brexit threatens our rural and urban communities, Conservative cuts threaten public services and climate chages threatens our future.
“Wales needs the Liberal Democrats more than ever.”
Dodds gained the backing of Montgomeryshire Lib/Dem chairman Richard Church who also took to Facebook to say: “I am pleased to be supporting Jane Dodds to be Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats. She has got the energy, the commitment and the vision to give us the fresh start that we need.”