AM is given 18-month suspension from party
NEIL McEvoy has been suspended from Plaid Cymru for 18 months.
The South Wales Central AM was given his punishment by a disciplinary panel which met on Thursday and reached its decision yesterday.
Mr McEvoy, who had been expelled from the party’s Assembly group, gave evidence to the panel at the party’s Cardiff Bay headquarters as he faced complaints about his behaviour.
Three of the four complaints he faced have been upheld. They were all due to breaching party standing orders.
These included taking actions or making statements damaging, or potentially damaging, the public reputation of the party, and breaches of confidentiality.
Relating to his actions during the 2017 Plaid Cymru spring conference, Mr McEvoy was found to have used “conduct in party meetings or against party members during party-organised events or in correspondence dealing with party business which is intimidating, harassing or which causes distress or disillusionment among party members and/or staff”.
Mr McEvoy has been informed and has seven days to appeal.
A Plaid Cymru spokeswoman said his exclusion “reflects the gravity of the cases put before the panel”. But Mr McEvoy has called the decision “disgraceful”.
“Plaid members need to know that I have been expelled from the party for 18 months for being welcomed at a conference by members and for not allowing the chair to change my conference speech,” he said.
“Freedom of speech and association are fundamental human rights which Plaid members fight to uphold. I have evidence to show that the chair began the investigation into me before any written complaints were received and that others were aware of the complaints, whilst I was not. This is an unbelievable abuse of process.
“The so-called inquiry has been completely flawed from the very beginning. There has been no due process or natural justice, just a sustained effort by lobbyists to undermine me. The complaints have not been dealt with in accordance with the party’s own rules and standing orders.
“Having to wait over a year since the complaints were first made is unacceptable. There has been no duty of care shown for me or my family. My human rights have been seriously breached. I wasn’t even allowed legal representation.”
He added: “I will obviously be appealing this disgraceful decision. My fringe meeting on Saturday, March 24, at lunchtime at Plaid conference will be going ahead and everyone will be welcome.”
Four other complaints against Mr McEvoy have been forwarded to the National Assembly’s Standards Commissioner as they relate to his time as an AM.
The hearing, held in Cardiff Bay, came after a series of disagreements between Mr McEvoy and the party. In the past year he has been suspended as a councillor, suspended from the Assembly Plaid Cymru group twice, and has since been permanently expelled from the Assembly group.
In January WalesOnline published details of complaints made about Mr McEvoy’s conduct. At that time it was understood there were 11 different complaints.
After being asked to respond to the allegations by WalesOnline, Mr McEvoy held a press conference releasing full details of some of the complaints and complainants. Three of the complainants were former AM Nerys Evans, former Labour special adviser Cathy Owens, and Frances Beecher, head of charity Llamau.
He went public after complainants came forward to the Echo to raise concerns about the length of time Plaid Cymru had taken to instigate a disciplinary process. They were also concerned their identities had not been protected when the complaints were given to Mr McEvoy by the party.
Following that disclosure, in January he was unanimously and permanently expelled from the Assembly group after his colleagues said there had been an “irrevocable breakdown of trust”.
Mr McEvoy served a little-used order, known as a subject access request, to gain copies of correspondence between staff and journalists relating to him. That included from other AMs, including leader Leanne Wood.
Mr McEvoy remains a member of the party.