AM quits after arrest over ‘indecent images’
ONE of Plaid Cymru’s most senior Assembly Members has resigned from the National Assembly and the party after being arrested on suspicion of possessing indecent images.
Simon Thomas, pictured, the AM for Mid and West Wales, was Plaid’s spokesman for rural affairs and served as MP for Ceredigion from 2000 to 2005. He was first elected to the Assembly in 2011 and re-elected in 2016. Plaid Cymru chairman Alun Ffred Jones said: “Plaid Cymru has received Simon Thomas’ resignation as a member of the party. We are aware of a police investigation into allegations of a serious offence. Due to that ongoing investigation it would not be appropriate to comment further at this time.”
Confirming the nature of the allegation, a spokeswoman for Dyfed-Powys Police said: “An individual from Aberystwyth has been arrested on suspicion of possessing indecent images.
“The individual has been released on police bail for 28 days.”
Confirming his resignation as an AM, a spokeswoman for the Assembly Commission said: “The Llywydd [Presiding Officer Elin Jones] has received a letter of resignation from Simon Thomas, Assembly Member for the Mid and West Wales region, with immediate effect.
“The Returning Officer for the region has been notified and we are working together to administer the arrangements for electing a new representative.”
Because Mr Thomas was a regional AM, there will not be a by-election.
Instead, the vacancy will be filled by another candidate from Plaid Cymru’s Mid and West Wales list from 2016. The first available candidate on the list is former AM Helen Mary Jones, who lost her Llanelli seat in 2011. She currently works as deputy director of the Morgan Academy at Swansea University.
After the news of Mr Thomas’ resignation was made public, Ms Jones tweeted: “In something of a state of shock. I have now got some big decisions to make in the next few days. I won’t be on here a lot.
“Thanks for good wishes already received.”
ASSEMBLY Member Simon Thomas resigned with immediate effect after being arrested on suspicion of possessing indecent images.
The Plaid Cymru AM, who represented the Mid and West Wales region, wrote to Y Llywydd, Elin Jones, to say his resignation was immediate.
A statement from Plaid Cymru chairman Alun Ffred Jones said: “Plaid Cymru has received Simon Thomas’ resignation as a member of the party.
“We are aware of a police investigation into allegations of a serious offence.
“Due to that ongoing investigation it would not be appropriate to comment further at this time.”
A Dyfed-Powys Police spokesman said: “An individual from Aberystwyth has been arrested on suspicion of possessing indecent images.
“The individual has been released on police bail for 28 days.”
Mr Thomas lives in Aberystwyth with his wife and two children.
A former MP, he was elected to the House of Commons as the Member of Parliament for Ceredigion in a by-election in 2000, before winning the seat again in the 2001 General Election.
After losing his seat in 2005, he became a development manager with Technium in Pembrokeshire before becoming a special senior adviser to the Welsh Government.
He was elected to the National Assembly for Wales in 2011 and again in 2016.
Mr Thomas has deleted his Twitter page and personal website.
An Assembly Commission spokeswoman said: “The returning officer for the region has been notified and we are working together to administer the arrangements for electing a new representative.”
His resignation will not trigger a by-election as he was a list member, meaning next in line to take over the seat would be former AM Helen Mary Jones, who came second.
Ms Jones, who now works for Swansea University, was a member of the National Assembly for Wales from 1999 to 2011 and is currently assistant director of the Morgan Academy at Swansea University.
She will now be approached by the returning officer for Mid and West Wales, Mark James, and offered the role.
Should she accept, Y Llywydd will be notified and Ms Jones will take the oath and become the new Assembly Member.
If she decides not to accept, the third- and fourth-place people on the list would in turn be contacted.
She tweeted yesterday to say: “In something of a state of shock. I have now got some big decisions to make in the next few days. I won’t be on here a lot. Thanks for good wishes already received.”
If Ms Jones decides not to stand, Plaid Cymru will approach the third on the list, Vicky Moller.
She was third place on the regional list at the time of the last election.
Her profile on the Plaid Cymru website says she was one of the founders of the West Wales Eco Centre in 1980.
A great-grandmother, she has lived on a mountain farm in north Wales and a smallholding in west Wales.
She became involved in politics in 1993 during a planning battle on behalf of a young family.
She has been a member of the Plaid National Executive.