Ex-Plaid Cymru MP who accepted police caution for assaulting wife to stand down at General Election

The independent MP for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr has announced he will be standing down at the General Election in July.

Jonathan Edwards has not been part of the Plaid Cymru group in Westminster since being suspended from the party after he accepted a caution in May 2020 for assaulting his wife at their home in Ammanford.

A row over his membership ensued, with Mr Edwards being allowed to re-join the party, but not being allowed to call himself a Plaid Cymru MP and having to sit as an independent. He later quit the party after the then-leader, Adam Price, called for him to leave.

It had been reported that Mr Edwards was considering running against his former party in the new Carmarthenshire constituency but he has put an end to speculation with a statement posted on his Facebook page.

In the post, he said: "I would like to thank everyone who has been in touch to encourage me to do so, however, upon deep reflection, I have decided that it is time for me to stand down."

He continued: "I have dedicated my adult life to public service, and politics is the very essence of my soul. Serving my home communities has been the most incredible honour and privilege. I hope the people of Carmarthen East and Dinefwr will feel that I have done the job to the best of my ability, with integrity and for the right reasons.

The fact that I am the only politician that has ever won four elections, and that I am the longest ever serving Parliamentarian for the constituency and its previous incarnations, indicates that I must have done something right.

"You will never understand how much it has meant to me that you put your faith in me for all these years. In an age of great scepticism, a good elected member can make a huge difference to peoples lives.

"My priority was always Carmarthenshire and my energies were always directed towards serving the needs of our communities and not grandstanding in Westminster. I would like to thank my staff who have been loyal to me over the years for their hard work.

"I have been fortunate to work with some incredible people who have helped thousands of constituents with problems and community groups achieving so much for our county. I am sorry that you will now be faced with an uncertain future for a while, however I am confident that you will flourish in whatever you choose to do next.

"We have also achieved some great policy victories. Leading the charge to scrap the Housing Revenue Account Subsidy Scheme in Wales which saves Welsh Councils an estimated £100 million per annum, enabling those that kept their housing stock to build for the first time in years.

"I feel an enormous sense of pride when I see new Council houses being built in Carmarthenshire. Uncovering the scandalous financial loss to Wales resulting from HS2 and other Barnett scandals.

"Making the case for a Wales specific Public Sector Pension investment fund. And securing one of the first Levelling Up bids in the UK for the Tywi Valley Cycle path between Llandeilo and Carmarthen."

Mr Edwards also took a parting swipe at his former party, accusing Plaid Cymru of exploiting "an incident in my personal life to try and destroy" him.

He said: "I acted in good faith and trusted the party’s processes, only for them to be corrupted by those who misused their power in order to settle old scores.

"That is a matter for them and their conscience. They will undoubtedly rejoice at this statement, but any victory they may feel is a pyrrhic one.

"It has taken me a long time to recover, and to be perfectly frank I am amazed I am still alive and breathing after the depths I fell to. I am however now at peace.

"At the end of last week, I attended a funeral of the wife of a friend who tragically died young from cancer. I reflected on what’s important in life and that means moving forward not looking back.

"This week marks the second anniversary of my own father’s death, a man who gave his whole life to Plaid Cymru. It still haunts me that when he was gasping for his final breaths on his deathbed he witnessed his party turning against his son.

"That sort of torment is beyond comprehension. My father was a Christian and he would not condone a major decision to stand at this election on the basis of revenge and would instead encourage forgiveness."

In response, a Plaid Cymru spokesperson said: "Plaid Cymru's Ann Davies is receiving overwhelming support in this election as the local voice for the people of Carmarthen, with growing support across the constituency.

"This area has a proud history of electing dedicated and independent-minded representatives who always put their constituency first. The people of Carmarthen’s best hope of kicking out the Tories and stopping Labour taking Wales for granted is to vote for Plaid Cymru on July 4th."

Mr Edwards says he now intends to focus on spending time with his children, adding "there is more than one way to represent the communities where I come from and call home."

He said: "Politics is a tough and all-encompassing occupation and I genuinely wish my successor well. For myself, I can’t wait to be home where I belong."

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