Plaid Cymru avoids splits following leadership change but wounds remain

For a party which has just taken the unprecedented step of getting rid of its leader and installing a new one, Plaid Cymru has presented a remarkably united front at its annual conference in Cardigan.

It's a tribute both to party managers and all three AMs who fought the leadership election that coverage hasn't been dominated by stories about splits and people handing in their membership cards.

Beneath the surface however there are still tensions which could cause problems in the future.

That's no great surprise. Plaid Cymru has never ousted a leader before and that's a traumatic thing to do for any political party, even those which do it more easily.

You might have expected Leanne Wood to have stayed away. Nobody would have blamed her. Other defeated leaders have done just that.

Not her. She's been here in Cardigan since the conference began on Friday, chatting to party members, accepting commiserations and hugs and even delivering a speech. And although she may have allowed herself one public criticism of those who criticised her, she was also in the front row for Adam Price's first speech as leader. Whatever you might think of her politics, that shows the sort of personal character and courage which won her political support in the first place.

Adam Price too has made sure that in his speech and in every interview he's highlighted her achievements and publicly promised that she'll be a part of his top team.

Rhun ap Iorwerth has also contributed to party unity, magnanimous in his praise for the new leader and the former leader.

It could have been very different. One senior figure told me they feared ‘some sort of guerrilla operation’ from supporters of the defeated candidates.

I'm told that some members from Anglesey decided it was 'too raw' for them to be in Cardigan and so stayed away.

Some Leanne Wood supporters too thought 'for five minutes' about quitting Plaid but she herself sent an email to all her supporters urging them to unite behind the new leader.

Some of those are still waiting to see how things pan out under Adam Price and may yet decide the change is not for them.

There are those who are cross that the party is committing to encouraging more women into politics just a week after ousting the only female leader in the Assembly.

There are those from non-traditionally Plaid backgrounds who felt that Leanne Wood made the party more welcoming to them and who are unsure if they're still welcome.

It'll take all the goodwill and all the efforts of senior party figures that have undoubtedly been in evidence here in Cardigan to make sure that those wounds don't fester and become bigger problems for Plaid Cymru.