Leanne Wood was addressing Plaid Cymru's autumn conference in Caernarfon Credit: ITV News Cymru Wales
by Nick Powell
Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood has told her party's conference in Caernarfon of her determination to lead it for at least another four years.
She signalled her determination to strengthen her grip on her party -and increase its support from Welsh voters- in her keynote speech. After a Westminster election that saw Plaid's total vote drop, despite picking up an extra seat in Ceredigion, she said it was time to reconnect with the people.
The Plaid leader has faced speculation about her future, partly fueled by remarks by the Ynys Mon AM, Rhun ap Iorwerth, that he'd like to lead the party one day. In his speech, he argued that if Plaid wants a newly confident Wales, there needs to be a newly confident Plaid Cymru. But with her talk of preparing the next election manifesto, Leanne Wood highlighted her determination to stay in post.
She also set out her approach to Brexit, arguing that the Welsh economy needs the UK to remain as close as possible to the European Union, even if the referendum result means that Britain must leave the EU.
Earlier there had been a demonstration of solidarity with Catalonia, when Plaid Cymru members who'd joined the protests in Barcelona, were joined on the stage by one of the Catalan nationalist leaders. Leanne Wood went so far as to compare the Spanish state's reaction to the unauthorised referendum on independence to actions of the Franco dictatorship,
