Welsh Lib Dem leader Jane Dodds to stay in role despite Ed Davey calling her to consider position

The leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats says she won’t be resigning from her role despite her party’s UK leader saying that she should consider her position.

Jane Dodds says that she has the confidence of the party’s Welsh Board.

The Welsh party’s President has also said that Ms Dodds has its complete confidence.

A report published in 2021 found that Jane Dodds had made "a grave error of judgement" by not pursuing a meeting to discuss a particular sexual abuse case when she worked for the Church of England.

Last week the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby announced that he will step down from his role "in the best interests of the Church of England", after facing mounting pressure to quit over his handling of a separate abuse case.The Liberal Democrats' UK leader, Sir Ed Davey, was asked by the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg if Jane Dodds should consider her position as leader of the Welsh Lib Dems.

He said, “I think this whole issue around the Church of England is hugely serious, and we have to take it seriously.

He added, "I’ve spoken to Jane about this. She has apologised, and she has had an incredible career looking after children, but I’ve made it clear I think she needs to think about her responsibility on this."

Asked if she should consider resigning, he said: “I think she does need to reflect on this very carefully. I accept that she has apologised, but this is such a serious issue so I think she does need to think about what else she may need to do.

“I’ve made my feelings really clear to her about what I think she should do and I think she’s reflecting and I hope she does."

In response to Sir Ed’s comments, Jane Dodds issued a statement saying that, “Following a phone conversation with Ed Davey, I spoke directly with local party colleagues and met with the Welsh Board, who have expressed their confidence in my leadership.“Following these conversations, and discussions with other colleagues across the party, I have decided to continue fighting for the people of Wales in my role as Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats.

“I have made child protection my life’s work, having worked in the field for over twenty years prior to entering politics. This is why I have dedicated my position in the Senedd to ensuring that child care and child protection services across Wales are safer and fairer.

“My heart goes out to the victims of this appalling abuse.

As detailed in this report, I worked closely with the authorities on this historic case, which was one of many that I worked on.

I accepted at the time that there were shortcomings in organising meetings about this case. In the report I acknowledged these shortcomings and I whole-heartedly apologise to the victims for the delays that this contributed to.”

Her statement was accompanied by a further comment from Tim Sly, President of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, who said that: “The Board of the Welsh Liberal Democrats met with Jane Dodds on Saturday and had an opportunity to discuss in some depth with her the matters raised in the Report.

“Following this discussion, the Board expressed its complete confidence in Jane Dodds as Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, and considers the matter closed.”

Speaking at Welsh Labour's conference in Llandudno, the Health Secretary Jeremy Miles said that: "I haven't read the report and it's an internal matter for the Liberal Democrats. I haven't heard the exchange but I think it's an internal matter."

However a Welsh Conservative spokesperson said that, “Clearly she has lost the confidence of the Lib Dem UK leader."Fundamentally, the question Jane Dodds needs to ask herself is if her actions caused people harm or put them in harms way."If on reflection that answer is yes, then she knows what action she has to take next."

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