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The continuing political chaos at Westminster over Brexit and related matters is placing more and more pressure on the United Kingdom’s periphery. There is already a growing chorus of support for a second Scottish independence referendum.
Now new opinion polling suggests that support for Welsh independence is also growing. Barring the latest polling, three major opinion polls were conducted on Welsh voters’ attitudes to independence starting in 2014 and ending in 2018.
In 2014 support for independence stood at a meager 14 percent whereas by 2018 that support had shot up to 23 percent. And now the very latest polling by YouGov shows that 14 percent of respondents are “strongly” supportive of independence. This is an increase of 4 percentage points from a similar poll in 2017.
A closer analysis of the polling results shows that up to 30 percent of respondents are to varying degrees supportive of independence and a further 30 percent fall into what has been described as the “Indycurious” category, meaning that they are willing to consider the merits of independence.
The rapid rise in “Indycuriosity” has clearly spooked Westminster politicians who are scrambling to find excuses to explain the process. Even Carwyn Jones, who was the First Minister of Wales and leader of the Welsh Labour party from 2009 to 2018, has waded into the debate by claiming that the chaotic politics in London is fuelling curiosity about Welsh independence.
At street level, in a sign that the Welsh people’s attitudes are shifting much faster than London anticipates, thousands of activists and ordinary people staged a large demonstration in Cardiff last month demanding independence.
Addressing the rally, Adam Price, the leader of the pro-independence Paid Cymru, claimed that the tide was “turning” and pro-independence voices are getting “louder”.
Blaming “decades” of Westminster neglect for poverty and under-investment in Wales, Price claimed that London is no longer “fit” to govern or represent Wales.
Meanwhile, Llywelyn ap Gwilym, a spokesperson for the activist group All Under One Banner Cymru told WalesOnline that the debate about Wales’ constitutional future has intensified since the onset of Brexit three years ago.
