ELIN Jones AM has said she will continue to “campaign vigorously” for the residents of Ceredigion despite her election as the Welsh Assembly­’s Presiding Officer.

Following her re-election on 5 May, Ms Jones beat Plaid Cymru colleague Dafydd Elis-Thomas by 34 votes to 25 to be appointed to the figurehead role in the Welsh Assembly.

Ms Jones will now lose her right to vote in the Senedd chamber and will be unable to participate in deb­ates, but Ms Jones said this will not distract from the work she does for her constituents.

Ms Jones, who will now be the second-highest paid politician in the Assembly with a salary of £105,000, behind only the First Minister, told the Cambrian News: “It’s a great privilege to be elected as the National Assembly’s Presiding Officer and I look forward to the challenge greatly.

“Being elected across political parties is particularly important to me, as it reflects the way I do my political and representative role.

“My role and ability to represent Ceredigion does not change at all. Ceredigion’s interests remain my top priority. I will continue to campaign vigorously for Ceredigion, our health service, our infrastructure and all our public services.

“I will continue all my constituency work. What has changed is my work in Cardiff Bay. I’ll now chair the Assembly, rather than att­end committees and take part in debates.”

Despite losing her vote, Ms Jones said this will be “cancelled out” by the appointment of a Labour Deputy Presiding Officer, who will also be barred from voting.

“However, I do not see that this will diminish my ability to influence decisions on behalf of Ceredigion,” Ms Jones added.

“I will not lose my political vote because it has been cancelled out by the appointment of a non-voting Labour Deputy Presiding Officer.

I’ll make sure I bring a bit of Cardi-style to the role of Llywydd.”

A week of surprises at the Senedd was kicked off after controversial newly-appointed AM for Mid and West Wales Neil Hamilton staged a coup on UKIP Wales leader Nathan Gill to become the leader of UKIP AMs in the Assembly.See this week's south editions for the full story, in shops now or online by clicking the Digital Editions tab at the top of the page