HELEN Mary Jones has been sworn in as the new Plaid Cymru Assembly Member for Mid and West Wales.

She said that it was a great honour to serve the region and that she never expected to return to the Senedd.

Her comeback from the political wilderness comes at the expense of Simon Thomas, who resigned as AM and from Plaid Cymru after being arrested by Dyfed Powys Police on suspicion of possessing indecent images.

A prominent figure in Welsh politics, Helen Mary Jones a former student at Caereinion High School previously served as a Plaid Cymru AM from 1999 until 2011 with a political focus in her work on social justice, education and children and young people's rights.

Following her defeat in Llanelli inthe 2016 assembly election, she had been working as the assistant Director of the Morgan Academy at Swansea University.

Helen Mary Jones said: "It is a great honour to have the opportunity to serve the people of Mid and West Wales in our National Assembly.

"I feel a profound sense of regret at the difficult circumstances in which I will be returning to the Senedd.

"Despite this, I know that there is a job of work to do in representing the people of Mid and West Wales and in giving them and their communities the strongest voice possible in our national parliament.

"I look forward to giving of my best for the region and for Wales."