Editing Plaid Cymru (section)

====Sixth Senedd (2021–)====
In the run-up to the [[2021 Senedd election]], polling suggested that Welsh Labour would win the highest number of seats but fall short of an overall majority. Pollsters and commentators suggested that the most likely outcome would be another Labour–Plaid Cymru coalition,<ref>{{cite news |last=de La Mare |first=Tess |date=2 May 2021 |title=Plaid Cymru bullish as Welsh Labour hints at coalition plans post election |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/mark-drakeford-plaid-cymru-sophy-ridge-sky-news-wales-b932869.html |access-date=13 May 2021 |newspaper=[[Evening Standard]] |place=London |language=en |archive-date=13 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513160614/https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/mark-drakeford-plaid-cymru-sophy-ridge-sky-news-wales-b932869.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="coalition">{{cite news |last=Morgan Jones |first=Ifan |date=23 March 2021 |title=Are we heading for a second Plaid-Labour coalition in Wales, and if so what could they agree on? |url=https://nation.cymru/opinion/are-we-heading-for-a-second-plaid-labour-coalition-in-wales-and-if-so-what-could-they-agree-on/ |access-date=13 May 2021 |work=[[Nation.Cymru]] |language=en-GB |archive-date=13 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513160614/https://nation.cymru/opinion/are-we-heading-for-a-second-plaid-labour-coalition-in-wales-and-if-so-what-could-they-agree-on/ |url-status=live }}</ref> an option First Minister [[Mark Drakeford]] said he would be open to.<ref>{{cite news |date=2021-05-02 |title=Drakeford leaves door open to Plaid Cymru coalition |url=https://www.gwalianews.cymru/post/drakeford-leaves-door-open-to-plaid-cymru-coalition |access-date=2021-05-13 |website=Gwalia News |language=en-GB |archive-date=6 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220806084528/https://www.gwalianews.cymru/post/drakeford-leaves-door-open-to-plaid-cymru-coalition |url-status=live }}</ref> Price insisted that his party would not be Labour's "junior partner",<ref>{{cite news |last=Hayward |first=Will |date=2020-10-02 |title='Anything less than First Minister is a failure': Adam Price on his hopes for Plaid in the 2021 Senedd election |url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/politics/adam-price-plaid-cymru-conference-19026543 |access-date=2021-05-13 |work=WalesOnline |language=en-GB |archive-date=13 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513160614/https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/politics/adam-price-plaid-cymru-conference-19026543 |url-status=live }}</ref> nor would they work with the Conservatives under any circumstances.<ref>{{cite news |date=2020-10-02 |title=Adam Price: 'No coalition under any circumstances with Conservatives' |url=https://nation.cymru/news/adam-price-no-coalition-under-any-circumstances-with-conservatives/ |access-date=2021-05-13 |work=[[Nation.Cymru]] |language=en-GB |archive-date=13 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513160614/https://nation.cymru/news/adam-price-no-coalition-under-any-circumstances-with-conservatives/ |url-status=live }}</ref> He stated that Plaid would be willing to join forces with Labour, but only if the former were the largest party or if it were an equal partnership.<ref name="coalition"/> Price also said that he did not consider [[Welsh independence]] to be "a distraction or a constitutional abstraction", but rather "a practical necessity".<ref>{{cite web |last=Mosalski |first=Ruth |date=2021-04-24 |title=The Adam Price election interview: Independence isn't a distraction |url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/adam-price-senedd-election-plaid-20437249 |access-date=2021-05-13 |website=WalesOnline |language=en |archive-date=13 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513162437/https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/adam-price-senedd-election-plaid-20437249 |url-status=live }}</ref>

At the election, Plaid increased their seat total to thirteen, up one from the twelve they won in 2016, but lost out in their target constituencies, and lost [[Rhondda (Senedd constituency)|Rhondda]] where former leader Leanne Wood lost her seat to Labour.<ref>{{cite news |last=Mosalski |first=Ruth |date=11 May 2021 |title=Plaid's goal of independence took a step back in the election - Leanne Wood |url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/politics/leanne-wood-says-plaids-goal-20574143 |access-date=13 May 2021 |website=WalesOnline |language=en-GB |archive-date=13 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513095920/https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/politics/leanne-wood-says-plaids-goal-20574143 |url-status=live }}</ref> Price said he would not resign, telling [[ITV Wales]]: "My job is to lead, its not to give up at a set back or disappointment. My job is to sustain the hope – all those young people who voted for Plaid because they were inspired by our message of the potential we believe is there in Wales to deliver a decent society for our people. I firmly believe that we have sown a lot of seed at this election. A lot of young people in particular who did come with us this time has laid the foundations for the future which I think will set us up for growth in the years to come."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://nation.cymru/news/plaid-cymru-leader-adam-price-wont-resign-following-election-disappointment/ |title=Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price won't resign following election disappointment |date=12 May 2021 |work=[[Nation.Cymru]] |access-date=12 May 2021 |archive-date=12 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512130717/https://nation.cymru/news/plaid-cymru-leader-adam-price-wont-resign-following-election-disappointment/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

On 22 November 2021, despite Price's earlier comments about refusing to work with Labour,<ref>{{cite news |last=Price |first=Adam |date=23 November 2021 |title=Adam Price explains why he did a deal with Labour |url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/politics/labour-plaid-deal-adam-price-22236581 |access-date=24 November 2021 |website=WalesOnline |language=en-GB |archive-date=23 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211123234458/https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/politics/labour-plaid-deal-adam-price-22236581 |url-status=live }}</ref> the two parties announced a [[2021 Welsh Labour–Plaid Cymru agreement|co-operation agreement consisting of almost 50 different policies]], including providing free school meals for all primary school children, the establishment of a free-at-point-of-need national care system and building a railway between [[North Wales|North]] and [[South Wales]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Labour and Plaid Cymru agree Welsh government co-operation deal |url=https://www.thenational.scot/news/19732552.labour-plaid-cymru-agree-welsh-government-co-operation-deal/ |last=Webster |first=Laura |date=22 November 2021 |access-date=24 November 2021 |newspaper=[[The National (Scotland)|The National]] |place=Glasgow |language=en |archive-date=6 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220806084527/https://www.thenational.scot/news/19732552.labour-plaid-cymru-agree-welsh-government-co-operation-deal/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Price called the agreement "a down-payment on independence" and claimed that the results of the Senedd election "confirmed Wales's status as an indy-curious nation. A curiosity that will give birth – sooner than many think – to an independent Wales." He went on to say, "For Wales to be free, we must first be united. And, that is what this Co-operation Agreement sets out to achieve. It launches us on a pathway to a united Wales, one that, sooner than we perhaps think, will find it both comfortable and natural, indeed essential, to join the world community of normal, independent nations."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.itv.com/news/wales/2021-11-26/does-plaid-cymrus-co-op-deal-signal-a-down-payment-on-welsh-independence |title=Adam Price: Labour and Plaid's co-op agreement is a 'down-payment on independence' |date=26 November 2021 |work=[[ITV News]] |access-date=26 November 2021 |archive-date=27 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211127072846/https://www.itv.com/news/wales/2021-11-26/does-plaid-cymrus-co-op-deal-signal-a-down-payment-on-welsh-independence |url-status=live }}</ref>

The co-operation agreement was ratified by Plaid's conference, with 94% voting in favour. "This is a huge step forward for Wales and our democracy," Price said. "The co-operation agreement will bring immediate, tangible and long-term benefit for the people of Wales. All primary school children will now receive free school meals; there will be free childcare for all two-year-olds; and radical action to tackle the housing crisis. There will be stability payments to support family farms; exploration of an accelerated pathway to net zero by 2035; the creation of [[Ynni Cymru]] – a company to expand community-owned renewable energy generation; and a new and reformed Senedd – bigger, more diverse, and gender balanced in law. From feeding our children to caring for our elderly, this is a nation-building Programme for Government which will change the lives of thousands of people the length and breadth of our country for the better. And none of it would be happening without Plaid Cymru."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://nation.cymru/news/plaid-cymru-conference-votes-in-favour-of-co-operation-agreement-with-welsh-government/ |title=Plaid Cymru conference votes in favour of co-operation agreement with Welsh Government |date=27 November 2021 |work=[[Nation.Cymru]] |access-date=27 November 2021 |archive-date=27 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211127174318/https://nation.cymru/news/plaid-cymru-conference-votes-in-favour-of-co-operation-agreement-with-welsh-government/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In May 2023, the publication of a report which detailed failings by the party to prevent sexual harassment and bullying led to media coverage suggesting that Price had agreed to resign the party leadership,<ref name=":6">{{cite news |date=9 May 2023 |title=Adam Price to quit as Plaid Cymru leader |work=Nation.Cymru |url=https://nation.cymru/news/adam-price-to-quit-as-plaid-cymru-leader/ |access-date=9 May 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Deans |first=David |date=10 May 2023 |title=Adam Price: Plaid Cymru leader's future in doubt |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-65540930 |publisher=BBC News}}</ref> and Price confirmed this in a statement on 10 May. Acknowledging that he "no longer had the united support of [his] colleagues", Price stated that he would step down officially at the start of the following week, once the process for electing a new interim leader was finalised.<ref>{{cite web |last=Deans |first=David |date=11 May 2023 |title=Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price quits after damning report |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-65553413 |publisher=BBC Wales}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Adu |first1=Aletha |last2=Badshah |first2=Nadeem |date=11 May 2023 |title=Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price steps down after damning report |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/may/10/plaid-cymru-leader-adam-price-future-in-doubt-damning-review-detoxify |work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> On 11 May Plaid Cymru announced that [[Llyr Gruffydd]], Senedd member for North Wales, would replace him as interim party leader, and that this would be confirmed by the NEC on 13 May.<ref>{{cite web |date=11 May 2023 |title=Plaid Cymru: Llyr Gruffydd interim leader after Price quits |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-65556917 |publisher=BBC Wales}}</ref> On 16 June 2023 [[Rhun ap Iorwerth]] was announced as the new permanent leader after he was elected unopposed.<ref name=":7">{{Cite news |date=2023-06-16 |title=Plaid Cymru: Rhun ap Iorwerth takes over as party leader |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-politics-65928575 |access-date=2023-06-16}}</ref>

At party conference in [[Aberystwyth]] in October 2023, Rhun ap Iorwerth said the party was "not just for [[Welsh language|Welsh speakers]]".<ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-10-05 |title=Plaid Cymru not just for Welsh speakers - Rhun ap Iorwerth |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-politics-67012483 |access-date=2023-10-07}}</ref> Accomplishments like free school meals with the [[Second Drakeford government|Drakeford government]] were promoted.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-10-07 |title=Plaid Cymru must get free school meals credit - senior party figure |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-politics-67030669 |access-date=2023-10-07}}</ref>