Adam Price has been elected as the leader of Welsh nationalist party Plaid Cymru.

The openly gay politician won the leadership challenge from the party’s leader Leanne Wood with 2,863 votes compared to Wood who received 1,286.

Price – who has served as an MP from 2001 to 2010 and sat in the Welsh Assembly since 2016 – is now the first openly gay politician to take leadership of a major political party in Wales.

He said: “It is a huge honour to be elected leader of Plaid Cymru. Firstly, my thanks to Leanne Wood for her hard work since 2012 and to her and Rhun ap Iorwerth for such a good campaign.

“Secondly, to those who supported me, and all our party’s members for taking part in the election.

“Thanks, then, to the party’s staff for administering the election so well and arranging all its events. The work of all of us starts today.

“By rolling up our sleeves together, we will now win a new Wales.”

Although Price is the first openly gay political leader in Wales, back in 1998, Labour’s candidate, Ron Davies, who was set to become the first First Secretary for Wales was outed by newspapers.