Ex-Plaid Cymru leader Ieuan Wyn Jones pitching to do battle for Anglesey

The former leader of Plaid Cymru has thrown his hat into the ring to represent the party on Anglesey in the forthcoming general election.

Ieaun Wyn Jones led the party from 2000 to 2012 before quitting to head up the Menai Science Park project , which is currently under construction.

Last night the Daily Post reported he was planning a sensational return to frontline politics by contesting the party’s main target seat, Ynys Mon, in the snap election to be held on June 8.

Just to confirm that I'll be seeking the nomination as the Plaid candidate in Ynys mon

— Ieuan Wyn Jones (@Rhosmeirch) April 24, 2017

This morning the 67-year-old has confirmed the news on Twitter.

Party members will select their nominee at a hustings event on Wednesday.

If he secures the blessing of local members, he aims to again represent the seat he held in Parliament from 1987 to 2001, and in Cardiff Bay from 1999 to 2013.

Plaid Cymru’s candidate for the constituency in 2015, John Rowlands, has withdrawn from the contest and endorsed Mr Jones.

Other candidates known to have thrown their hats into the ring are present Anglesey councillor and North Wales deputy Police and Crime Commissioner, Ann Griffith, Gwynedd county councillor Dyfrig Jones and Holyhead schoolteacher and former Llanelli candidate, Vaughan Williams.

Labour’s Albert Owen was re-elected to the seat in 2015 with a razor thin majority of just 229 votes ahead of Plaid’s John Rowlands.