Leanne Wood, Elin Jones and Dafydd Elis-Thomas vie to lead Welsh nationalist party
Plaid Cymru is unveiling a new leader with two women and one man hoping to be take the Welsh nationalist party to a "bright future".
Plaid performed poorly in the Welsh assembly elections last year, losing seats and becoming only the third biggest party behind Labour and the Tories.
The party launched an overhaul and its leader of 10 years, Ieuan Wyn Jones, announced that he would be stepping down. Plaid says that its period of soul-searching has reinvigorated the party and attracted fresh members.
It is hoping a new leader, whose name will be announced on Thursday afternoon, will give it another boost at an interesting time in the history of Wales with the future shape of devolution under discussion in Cardiff and Whitehall.
The three leadership candidates are Leanne Wood, Elin Jones and Dafydd Elis-Thomas, all current members of the Welsh assembly.
Wood is a former probation officer and women's support worker in the valleys and lives in Rhondda, where she grew up. Her political interests include issues affecting women and young people and the anti-war movement.
Jones, who grew up on a farm in south-west Wales, was Aberystwyth's youngest mayor and was a minister in the One Wales government when Plaid worked in coalition with Labour before last year's elections.
Elis-Thomas, a former teacher in adult and higher education who has lived for most of his life in Snowdonia, has been the assembly's presiding officer.
Plaid's chief executive, Rhuanedd Richards, said: "Today is a momentous day for Plaid and for Wales as we elect our new leader. Throughout the past few months our members, supporters and the broader electorate alike have taken part in a lively and open debate about the future direction of Plaid Cymru.
"The leadership election has energised and united Plaid with a renewed determination to fight for a better future for Wales. It is a source of tremendous pride to us all that this has led to a 23% increase in our membership, and more people are joining us every day. I firmly believe that the party has a bright future ahead."
Along with Richards, Plaid has two other women in very prominent roles. The Plaid MEP Jill Evans is president while Helen Mary Jones is chair.
However, Plaid has never had a woman MP and Jones has called for the party to discuss having all-woman shortlists for parliamentary elections to address this.
One of the important challenges the new leader will face is appealing to voters in non-Welsh speaking areas. Many party members feel it has not done enough to capitalise on the increase in interest in Welsh identity and on support for the people of Wales to have greater control over their country's own affairs.
Labour has managed to present itself as the "Welsh party" in recent years – it now governs alone at the assembly with half of the 60 seats – while many believe Plaid has been sidelined as a party mainly appealing to Welsh speakers.
As Plaid announces its leader, the Commission on Devolution in Wales is holding its first public meeting. The commission has been set up to look at how devolution should develop.
To mark the first public event, which takes place in Swansea, the commission published an ICM poll that showed 62% of people think the Welsh government should be able to vary some taxes.
The commission's poll also revealed that 66% were in favour of the Welsh government being able to borrow money to spend on capital projects such as building roads and hospital.
However, when asked which level of government should have the most influence over the taxes people pay, 54% felt that that responsibility should rest with the UK government.