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Nation•Cymru A news service by the people of Wales, for the people of Wales.

Opinion

Audio: Neil McEvoy speaks to Nation.Cymru about his expulsion from Plaid

By NationCymru
Neil McEvoy

Neil McEvoy still doesn’t know why he has been expelled from the Plaid Cymru group at the Assembly, he told Nation.Cymru in an audio interview that can be listed to above.

The Assembly Member for south Wales central was permanently expelled from the Plaid Cymru assembly group yesterday.

“What is really frustrating for me is that away from the bubble in Cadiff Bay the party in Cardiff is thriving,” he said.

“We’re being actively prevented from campaigning for Plaid Cymru by this nonsense, really.

“What we have is a culture of anonymous allegations, anonymous briefings, that are destroying people’s reputations.”

‘Unacceptable’

A spokesperson from Plaid Cymru told the BBC that “his ongoing behaviour has left assembly member colleagues feeling undermined and demoralised”.

"As was stated at the time, Neil McEvoy was suspended for breaching standing orders and the Group's Code of Conduct through unacceptable behaviour.”

A statement from Plaid Cymru Cardiff West, however, said that they still “fully support Neil McEvoy” as their Assembly Member and considered him “a valued member of Plaid Cymru”.

‘Diverse’

Responding to the announcement yesterday Neil McEvoy sayd that he felt “real regret” at being “forced out” of the Plaid Cymru group.
“I was elected to be a Plaid Cymru Assembly Member after votes from thousands of people who wanted me to not do politics as usual,” he said.

“My focus has always been on holding the Labour government to account and it will continue to be so. I’ve never been interested in fighting with my own colleagues.

“Democracy in Wales is broken and Labour is the party that broke it. But I firmly believe that Plaid Cymru is the party who can fix it.
“We need to bring in more working class and diverse people into our party. We need to help the people who have never considered voting for Plaid Cymru before. That’s what I’ve tried to do.

“I’ll keep representing those people who have been left behind and given up on politicians.

“We’re not all the same. There are people who really care. I grew up on an estate in Cardiff and I made it to the Assembly. I hope that inspires people to know that anything is possible.

“Politics is about ideas but it’s also about personalities. We don’t always get along but there is always the bigger picture.
“Wales is a great country. It needs a great government and I’m going to keep doing all I can to make sure we get one.”

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10 comments

Gwenyn

This guy seems to have had a raw deal from Plaid.

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Oh dear

Plaid AMs not being fair or proportionate. Everyone entitled to a fair trial for clearly identified offences. A permanent exclusion? This can only reflect badly on plaid.

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Dafydd Thomas

Plaid branches need to write to the leadership for a clear explanation of so called and anonymous allegations against Neil McEvoy and an accompanying letter to Neil voicing support for an open discussion. It would be nice to know if any of the allegations against Neil McEvoy came from the same source as The allegations against Carl Sargeant.

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Mike

I every party expelled an MP/AM for not toeing the party line the whole country would be run by independents, food for thought i think. To Neil I say keep your head up fight for what you believe is right and do your self proud, you deserve it.

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maiinosa

mcevoy was a pain in his previous role in the Labour Party and history seems to be repeating itself. people elected on the party label on the list should surely stand down when, for whatever reason, they cease to be members of their original party grouping. It's called accountability and it applies to all groups.Im not a member of any Party so have no axe to grind. I just believe in honest politics and similarly, honest political journalism. John Stevenson ]

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Dafydd Thomas

Please correct me if I'm wrong but I believe Neil McEvoy to be a plaid member and that the people who selected him for the party label are not necessarily the ones who say he should not be a member of the assembly group. Like yourself I am not a member of a political party and favour honesty. In addition I would appreciate openness which you may not deem particularly valuable.

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Blue

McEvoy finishes this interview by complaining that Plaid should have kept his disciplinary issues “in house” rather than going to the media. Why then has he done exactly the opposite by giving this interview? Very hypocritical in my opinion. Furthermore, his absurd claim that last year’s Cardiff Council election result was the “best ever” for Plaid ignores the fact that at one time Plaid had seven councillors in Cardiff, rather than the current three. Plaid in Cardiff was given a boost not by McEvoy but by former Riverside councillor (and former Plaid CEO) Gwenllian Lansdown. It was she that laid the foundations for Plaid’s growth, not McEvoy. His former Plaid colleagues on the council, including Ms Lansdown, Jas Singh, Gareth Holden, Delme Bowen and Tariq Awan have all been conspicuously quiet on the McEvoy issue. Surely they, having worked alongside the self-proclaimed messiah, would be queueing up to defend him if he was the saviour that so many lost nationalists are expecting to lead them to the promised land? I am a member in Cardiff West and I can say, categorically, that McEvoy does not have unanimous support in the constituency. In 2014 he and his underlings attempted to dissolve all of the branches within Cardiff West in the hope of replacing them with a single Cardiff West branch under his control. He, thankfully, failed. Hopefully Plaid will boot him out. I am writing to Ty Gwynfor tomorrow to outline exactly why I believe that McEvoy should no longer be a Plaid member. One more thing...to all of the Plaid Newydd hopefuls. There is a reason that McEvoy was deselected by Labour and has been ostracised by every senior figure in Plaid - and that reason has nothing whatsoever to do with his bogus desire to “burst the bay bubble”. Be careful what you wish for......

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malinosa

excellent piece by Blue. don't fall for the Mcspin from a political chancer on this so called news site.

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T

I have no problem with a politician opposing his own parties line. But Neil doesn't choose to make a stand internally and propose a motion to conference or national council, instead he decides to make his point in the chamber, on social media and in the press. Deliberatley damaging the party. He himself has been a suporter of Plaid's policy on "right to buy" in the past. If he's had a massive conversion why couldn't he try and convince the rest of the party? I suspect that this is just Neil trying to start a fight with plaid AMs who he has a grudge against. The truth is that Neil consistently picks fights with people whenever he doesn't get his way and seems to have done this with the Assembly group. It must have taken some effort to alienate every single one of them. If someone can't work with others then they've got to go.

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Jim Dunckley

The only hypocrisy is from the so-called "Leadership". How many times did Dafydd Elis Thomas flout the Party line? McEvoy is in the Assembly for 5 minutes and they've now expelled him. If anything symbolises the extent to which Plaid have been sucked into the cosy "Cardiff Bay Consensus" this is it. The reason he's been expelled is because he's exposed the cwtchy relationship between the hierarchy and parasitic consultancy firms like Deryn. I want an explanation or I'm out.

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Replying to malinosa Cancel

excellent piece by Blue. don't fall for the Mcspin from a political chancer on this so called news site.

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