Plaid Cymru leader stands down after humiliation in Welsh Assembly poll

Ieuan Wyn Jones quit as the leader of Plaid Cymru last night after the party lost five of its 17 seats in last Thursday"s Welsh Assembly elections.

Mr Wyn Jones was facing calls to step down from up to half of the Welsh nationalist bloc in the Welsh Assembly. Plaid Cymru had a humiliating showing in last week's Welsh Assembly elections and Mr Wyn Jones only just hung on to his own seat of Ynys Mon with a much reduced majority. He has also been criticised for his lack of charisma.

Last night Mr Wyn Jones, who plans to continue as the member for Ynys Mon in the Assembly, said he had in effect been forced out by his party.

"This morning I was informed by the chair of the group in the Assembly that half the group felt that it was better if I stepped down immediately," he said.

"Although the election of the [Plaid] President and the Group Leader is in the hands of ordinary party members, I consider that it would be impossible for me to take forward the necessary changes without the support of at least a clear majority of group members."

Mr Wyn Jones faced recriminations for failing to lead the party to a better showing last week. He took over from Dafydd Wigley, an MP for 28 years, as leader three years ago after Mr Wigley resigned after suffering heart trouble.

Last night Mr Wigley, who is seen as a hard act to follow as leader, said he did not believe the party had "reached its high-water mark" in Welsh politics and was now on the decline. "My leadership was a step along the road," he said.

Mr Wyn Jones said he would continue as President of Plaid Cymru and Group Leader in the Assembly until his post is filled.

Last night John Dixon, the party chairman, paid tribute to Mr Wyn Jones and said he was saddened by the news. He said: "On behalf of the members of the party, I'd like to thank Ieuan for his work as leader. I have personally seen how hard Ieuan has worked and how much personal effort he put into the recent election." Senior party leaders advised Mr Wyn Jones to continue in his post after the party's disastrous showing at the polls last week. Last night Mr Wyn Jones said changes were needed in the party which required "strong support necessary to carry them through".

There are no obvious successors to the post, although the party hopes to find a new leader before its conference in September. Attention has turned to those who ran against him for the leadership in 2000: the MEP Jill Evans; Helen Mary Jones, an Assembly member, and Plaid's parliamentary leader, Elfyn Llwyd.

The future of John Swinney, the leader of the Scottish Nationalist Party, which lost seats in the Scottish local elections last week, is also in doubt.