The leader of the Liberal Democrats has said his party’s Welsh leader should reflect on her position over her handling of a sexual abuse case when she worked for the Church of England.
A 2021 report found Jane Dodds, who is in charge of the Welsh Lib Dems, made a “grave error of judgement” by not organising a meeting to discuss a particular case of abuse by the former Bishop of Chester.
She has accepted there were “shortcomings”.
Sir Ed Davey, when asked whether she should stand down, said she needed to “reflect on this very carefully” and “think about what else she may need to do”.
It comes after the Archbishop of Canterbury resigned over his failure to report prolific child abuser John Smyth.
Dodds was accused of failing to arrange a meeting about the abuse of a person highlighted in a report, A Betrayal of Trust, published in 2021, which found the late Hubert Victor Whitsey, former Bishop of Chester, who died in 1987, sexually abused young people.
Davey told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg: “I accept that she has apologised, but this is such a serious issue, so I think she does need to think about what else she may need to do.
“I’ve made my feelings really clear to her about what I think she should do and I think she’s reflecting. I hope she does.”
Dodds was asked if she remained confident that she would still be Welsh leader after the next Welsh Parliament elections in 2026, in a separate interview on BBC Radio Wales’ Sunday Supplement, before Davey’s interview.
“I am,” she replied.
“I’ve got the confidence of the Welsh board to continue in that role and that’s what I’m going to do.”
Although not asked directly about the report, she told the programme had “committed my life to caring and protecting children” with 27 years working in child protection.
“I’ll continue to do that in the Senedd,” said Dodds, who is the only Welsh Liberal Democrat Member of Senedd.
She also said she did not know who had been briefing Nation Cymru, which reported on her mention in the abuse inquiry.
“Being a party leader – I think you can hear this from any party leader – is not easy, and you never are going to make everybody happy in your party,” she said.
BBC Wales has approached Dodds for further comment.
