Women's Equality Party to field candidates in assembly elections

Sophie Walker took up her post with the Women's Equality Party this week, which was founded four months ago

The new leader of the UK's first feminist political party has said she expects to be fielding candidates in next year's Welsh assembly elections.

Sophie Walker took up her post with the Women's Equality Party this week.

The party was set up by broadcaster Sandi Toksvig and journalist Catherine Mayer four months ago and is said to be Britain's fastest-growing party.

Ms Walker told BBC Radio Wales' Sunday Supplement the party would be taking a non-partisan approach to elections.

"We've picked the perfect time to launch a political party because of the number of proportional representation elections coming up in the spring," she said.

Sandi Toksvig left BBC Radio 4 to set up the Women's Equality Party

"We are going to field candidates and we think we stand a good chance and we think that will form a very good basis going forward to 2020 and, given the state of various political parties right now, who knows what the political field is going to look like in 2020."

She added: "We will work with other political parties where they want to work with us and, where we see that other political parties are adopting our goals and taking on our agenda, then we would consider joint candidacies with them.

Ms Walker said the party was at the "very early stages of deciding how to go forward".

"We will be undertaking consultations with our members and deciding which seats to target," she added.