Leader of pro-independence party in Wales quits after report slams toxic culture

Adam Price leader of Plaid Cymru has resigned from the Wales pro-independence party (Source: @Adamprice / Twitter)

LONDON — The leader of Wales' pro-independence political party has resigned after an inquiry found it was riddled with bullying and misogyny.

Adam Price said he was stepping down as leader of Plaid Cymru after a meeting of the party executive late Wednesday.

A report published last week concluded the party had "failed to implement a zero-tolerance approach to sexual harassment." It said evidence from an anonymous staff survey and elected members found "cases of sexual harassment, bullying and discrimination" and urged the party to "detoxify."

Liz Saville Roberts, the party's leader in the U.K. Parliament, said Thursday that Price had become "a distraction" and had to go so that the party could "move ahead."

Plaid Cymru, whose name means Party of Wales, is the third-largest group in Wales' semiautonomous parliament and also has three seats in the U.K. Parliament in London.

The nationalist party hopes one day to lead Wales out of the United Kingdom, though support for Welsh independence has consistently been weaker than in Scotland, which held a referendum on secession in 2014. Then, Scottish voters opted to remain part of the U.K., but the governing Scottish National Party hopes to try again with a second referendum.

Price, 54, has led Plaid Cymru since 2018 and brokered an agreement to support the governing Labour Party in Wales in return for commitments on key policies including free lunches for primary school children.

He defended his record, saying that under his leadership "our core driver -- independence for Wales -- has broken the banks of mainstream politics and now many, from all parts and all parties, believe like we do that it is a matter of when and not if."