Image copyright Wales Green Party Image caption Pippa Bartolotti became Wales Green Party leader in 2011

Three candidates are competing to lead the Wales Green Party into the 2016 assembly election.

They are the party's deputy leader and Cardiff South and Penarth assembly candidate Anthony Slaughter, Mid and West Wales regional list candidate Alice Hooker-Stroud, and the Swansea West candidate Ashley Wakeling.

The winner will be announced shortly before Christmas, the party said.

Pippa Bartolotti reaches the end of her four-year term at the end of 2015.

She will be the party's lead assembly candidate for the South Wales East region, and will also stand in Newport West.

Hustings for the leadership and deputy leadership contest will take place on Saturday at the Wales Green Party's annual general meeting (AGM).

No Green AMs have been been elected since the Welsh assembly's creation in 1999, but the party has claimed it is now a "serious contender" for seats in Cardiff Bay.