Jonathan Edwards: Wife assault caution MP may run as independent

An MP who was cautioned by police for assaulting his wife said he could run against his former party at the next election.

Carmarthen East and Dinefwr MP Jonathan Edwards quit Plaid Cymru last year amid a row about his status in the party.

Mr Edwards said he has a “groundswell of support” locally to stand again.

Plaid Cymru said it was “entirely focused on continuing to deliver policies that make a real difference to people’s lives”.

In May 2020 Mr Edwards was arrested when police were called to his home in Carmarthenshire.

He received a police caution for common assault on his wife, Emma Edwards. The pair have since divorced.

At the time he said he was deeply sorry and that it was the biggest regret of his life.

Two years later he was allowed to re-join Plaid Cymru by a disciplinary panel – triggering an argument about whether he should represent the party in the House of Commons.

Ms Edwards said she was “appalled and disappointed” that the party reinstated him.

A majority of the party’s ruling national executive committee recommended that he should not resume his work as a Plaid Westminster MP – meaning he would have to sit as an independent.

After Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price called for him to leave, he quit the party altogether.

“Part of the process of deciding what to do is the support I am receiving locally, and there is a lot of support from individuals locally,” he told BBC Wales.

Mr Edwards said he had received enough money to stand and fight an election “from small donations from numerous individuals”.

He said that if he did stand he would do so on his “record as an elected member in Carmarthenshire for over a decade-and-a-half”.

Asked if he was a fit and proper person to be an MP, he said: “That is a matter for the people to decide and determine.

“There were no procedures against me by the House of Commons at all and there was no prosecution by the police.”

He said he completed a specialist course requested by the Plaid Cymru disciplinary panel “faithfully”.

Mr Edwards said he was shocked by a statement by Mr Price that said his actions “did not represent our values and his position as an MP sends the wrong message out to domestic abuse survivors”.

He added: “The disciplinary committee decided I met all their expectations and were happy for me to re-join. Unfortunately the leadership of Plaid Cymru enabled that process to become politicised.”

He accused the leadership of Plaid Cymru of taking an “absolute position” that an individual should “should be cancelled and destroyed and that there is no way back for that individual any more”.

“There is another group of people who believe that if an individual is honest about the mistakes they have done and recognise that they acted improperly and they have taken their punishment, then that individual deserves a second chance.”

Plaid Cymru said: “The disciplinary process in question has long concluded.

“Plaid Cymru is now entirely focused on continuing to deliver policies that make a real difference to people’s lives through its co-operation agreement with Welsh government, holding the Tories in Westminster to account for their chronic neglect of Wales, and supporting public sector workers in their disputes with the Labour government.”