article: Bethan Rhys Roberts hosts Ask the Leader on BBC One Wales at 19:00 BST on Thursday. Leanne Wood was the outsider who broke the Plaid Cymru mould when she won the party's leadership election in 2012 to succeed Ieuan Wyn Jones. She is Plaid's first female leader, the first to be a non-fluent Welsh speaker and the first from outside the party's heartlands in north and west Wales. Quite simply, she embodies the kind of person Plaid needs to win over if it is ever to become Wales' largest party. Born and raised in the Rhondda Valleys - where she still lives - her political awakening came during the miners' strikes of the 1980s. But, unlike many of her peers, Ms Wood turned to Plaid Cymru rather than Labour. The former probation officer and lecturer in social work was hired as a researcher by MEP Jill Evans. In 2003, Ms Wood realised her own political ambitions as she entered the Welsh Assembly as a regional AM for South Wales Central. Nine years later, the staunch republican - considered to be on the left of her party - was elected leader after promoting her economic vision for an independent Wales. Ms Wood says her focus as Plaid leader has always been on May's Welsh Assembly election, but the 2015 general election debates put her in the spotlight. Previous Plaid leaders could only dream of the media coverage she enjoyed, but a high public profile did not translate to any increase in seats at Westminster. Party officials and members say the public like Leanne Wood and respond to her on the doorstep. But questions remain as to whether they want her to lead the country. Friday 15 April - Welsh Labour leader Carwyn Jones in Llangollen Monday 11 April - Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies in Swansea Tuesday 12 April - UKIP Wales leader Nathan Gill in Swansea Wednesday 13 April - Welsh Lib Dem leader Kirsty Williams in Aberystwyth Ask the Leader can be seen on BBC One Wales at 19:00 BST each day and on the BBC iPlayer. You can also follow the programmes on Twitter - @walespolitics
summary: Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood faces questions from an audience in Aberystwyth in the fourth of a daily series of live TV election specials.