Adam Price has been part of Wales’s political landscape for decades.
He was referred to by some in his own party as “Y Mab Darogan” – the son of destiny.
But perhaps his destiny as leader of Plaid Cymru was not as he and his supporters might have hoped after a report found a “toxic culture” within the party.
Mr Price was first elected to Westminster in 2001 as MP for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr, where he remained until 2010.
It was when he joined the Senedd as the member for the same constituency in 2016 that he had the opportunity to further raise his profile at the chamber in Cardiff Bay.
In 2018, along with Plaid Senedd member for Ynys Môn, Rhun ap Iorwerth, he challenged Leanne Wood for the party’s leadership.
His period in charge has been one of mixed electoral success. In the 2022 local elections Plaid Cymru gained overall control of four councils, three more than in 2017.
Despite winning an extra seat in the Senedd in 2021 bringing their total to 13, the party’s vote share in that election remained virtually stagnant.
Plaid held on to all four of their seats at Westminster in the 2019 election in the early days of Mr Price’s leadership but lost out on key target seat Ynys Môn to the Conservatives.
The party’s cooperation agreement with the Labour government in Cardiff Bay since the 2021 election means Plaid Cymru have been able to realise some of its manifesto pledges.
But allegations first emerged at the end of 2022 of a “toxic culture” following a BBC Wales report.
A working group, Prosiect Pawb, chaired by former Plaid Senedd member Nerys Evans, was set up to produce a report on the party’s culture following the claims which included “harassment, bullying and misogyny”.
Adam Price had apologised and vowed to tackle the culture within the party.
He told Sky News at Plaid Cymru’s spring conference in March, before the report was published, that the responsibility for the culture was “a shared one” and that the party had a duty “to get this right”.
The damning report found there had been “a lack of collective leadership and governance across the party” which meant issues had “worsened over the last few years”.
It was undoubtedly a difficult challenge for a leader who was found to have presided over a worsening culture within the party.
It became a case of when, not if, Adam Price would have to go.
Some suggested the issues existed within Plaid Cymru before he became leader, including former Plaid Senedd member Bethan Sayed.
Read more:
Plaid Cymru apologises for ‘unacceptable behaviour’
Plaid Cymru call on Mark Drakeford to sack health minister
She told S4C current affairs programme Y Byd yn ei Le that he was aware of issues and should have acted sooner “rather than wait for problems to build up”.
With Mr Price announcing he will stand down, attention will turn to his successor.