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Neil McEvoy has confirmed he will reapply to join Plaid Cymru 12 months after he was expelled.

He can reapply from March 19 and has said he will try rejoin either before or after the spring conference, which is just days away.

But this isn't just about one man trying to rejoin a political party.

It's the latest twist in a saga which has rumbled on and on and painted all sides involved in a far from positive light.

Complaints about Mr McEvoy were made public because those who made them were so unhappy with the the way, and length of time, it took Plaid to work out how to deal with them.

Two different disciplinary panels then found Mr McEvoy had breached rules and upheld three complaints.

Plaid Cymru want to be the next government but couldn't work out the admin of dealing with a HR complaint to the satisfaction of their own members.

Once he formally submits his bid the panel – not made up of AMs or leader Adam Price – will be asked to decide "whether the circumstances have sufficiently changed so that an application might be approved”.

You can't see how they would manage to keep him out of the party.

His fans will say he should never have been expelled in the first place and that even while not a member he has performed miracles by winning a Plaid council seat in the Labour heartland of Ely in Cardiff.

However, his foes will say his personality has not changed and he is as divisive as ever.

Neil McEvoy is a Marmite character.

Love him or loathe him, he gets Plaid Cymru votes and seats in places they don't expect.

But even some of his Assembly colleagues don't want to see him back.

During his suspension, Bethan Sayed said in a now-deleted tweet she would quit if he were readmitted while then-leader Leanne Wood told members she was “unable to work with” him.

It is understood that were he allowed back into the party he would not automatically get back into the Assembly group.

So while Plaid can attempt to distance itself by saying that the decision lies with an anonymous panel and not leader Mr Price, every AM will have a say.

If he were readmitted then in terms of maths they could gain one AM but potentially lose two others – and those two are dedicated, long-standing Plaid AMs who are well-regarded and, crucially, recognisable.

Those mixed messages are unlikely to play well on a national stage.

"It's about drawing a line and going forward professionally," he said when asked if he would get back into the Assembly group, in an uncharacteristically measured response

But three complaints which were upheld – both originally and then at appeal – were from members who were unhappy enough with his conduct to complain and time is unlikely to have been a healer in terms of that.

Even his most ardent critics cannot deny he wins votes, as last month's Ely by-election proved.

The area had traditionally been almost as securely Labour as they come, with long-established councillors like Russell Goodway and Susan Goddard, and falling within the constituency of First Minister Mark Drakeford.

But Plaid, with a lot of Neil McEvoy support, took a seat which is now Andrea Gibson's.

In the last council election Labour took all three seats in Ely with 4,000 votes. Plaid’s three candidates had just over half that.

The by-election result was much closer (831 to 799) but it shows Plaid the campaigning strength Mr McEvoy has – and gives him bragging rights for taking a seat in his bitter rival Mr Drakeford’s heartland.

Every video he produced was in support of Plaid and he says his fellow Plaid councillors have been working with him throughout his suspension and want him back formally.

Every video of rubbish or an empty council house gets attention from voters.

And while the victory he engineered should be applauded, many will be voting because they see those videos of dirty streets and empty houses and think: 'He's right, why is that house empty?'

But that doesn't translate to people who want Plaid in charge of the country or Adam Price as First Minister.

Aside from angering their own AMs and own members, there is the image this portrays of the party to consider too.

When he was suspended as a councillor the hearing concluded just hours before the party's spring conference and his presence there caused concern to members and ended up being part of the reason he was expelled.

Now he's said he will reapply before or after the conference, casting a shadow over it once again.

While party conferences may not be something most of the Welsh public care about if there are developments then the big event in the Plaid calendar will be overshadowed once again.

More than that, every bitter leak or bitchy tweet can be seen by every voter Plaid is trying to convince.

They are a party trying to convince the Welsh public it should be leading the country, while airing its dirty laundry in public once more. Whatever their decision, they are damned if they do and damned if they don't.



