Plaid Cymru Cardiff councillors resign party whip

Plaid Cymru's three remaining councillors on Cardiff council have resigned the party whip.

Keith Parry, Lisa Ford and Andrea Gibson accused the party of becoming "too close to Labour".

It comes after their former Plaid colleague Neil McEvoy decided he would no longer try to rejoin the party he was expelled from.

Plaid Cymru thanked the three councillors for their work: "We wish them all the best for the future".

Mr McEvoy had wanted to get back into Plaid Cymru, but withdrew from the process while one of his supporters - Dewi Evans - tried to become party chairman. The bid failed.

• Neil McEvoy says he will not rejoin Plaid Cymru

• McEvoy drops Plaid Cymru membership bid

The independent AM and Cardiff councillor was expelled from Plaid Cymru last year after he was found guilty of misconduct over his allegedly disruptive behaviour at the 2017 Plaid spring conference.

Despite his expulsion, Mr McEvoy has been active in campaigning alongside the remaining Plaid councillors in Cardiff.

In a joint statement the councillors, who will form an independent group, claimed they had been "stifled by the party at every opportunity" and claimed "personal vendettas" were the most important thing for the Plaid leadership.

Ms Gibson has represented Ely since a by-election earlier this year, and had failed to win election to the party's national executive committee at the party conference this month. Mr Parry and Ms Ford represent Fairwater.

It is believed that the individuals remain party members, but BBC Wales was unable to confirm this with the councillors on Wednesday evening.