Lib Dem Voice is always neutral in leadership elections of any sort and so we will be for the Welsh Liberal Democrat Leadership election which culminates in 2 weeks’ time. The two candidates are former Assembly candidate for Ceredigion and local Councillor Liz Evans and former candidate for Montgomery Jane Dodds.

The only thing I will say is that having met both Jane and Liz, I think that they are both absolutely amazing and either would be a worthy successor to Kirsty Williams who has resumed the leadership temporarily. This election is unusual in that it is being fought between two non parliamentarians. The Welsh Party’s constitution was changed earlier this year to allow this because of the unfortunate circumstances in which it found itself.

The Welsh Party has, despite some spirited campaigning and inspiring leadership from Kirsty for most of the last decade, suffered huge setbacks in the last couple of years. The coalition legacy and the rise of UKIP has cost the party dear. While they have the one Lib Dem Cabinet minister in the country at the moment, she is their only parliamentarian. Unfortunately Mark Williams lost his Ceredigion seat by a heartbreaking 150 votes in the General Election in June.

Over this and next weekend, Jane and Liz meet at hustings meetings across Wales. They kicked off yesterday in Newport and are in Carmarthen today and Mold next Saturday.  They will no doubt face questions about what they can offer to rebuild the Welsh Party.

More information about the candidates can be found on the wonders of the internet.

Jane’s public Facebook and Twitter.

Liz’s website and Twitter.

* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings. You can find her on Bluesky at caronmlindsay.bsky.social