OfCom and YouGov polls show Welsh Government more trusted than UK’s on Covid-19

Two sets of polls published today suggest that the Welsh Government is more trusted on Covid-19 than their counterparts in the UK Government.

OfCom’s media consumption survey showed that 82% trust information from the Welsh Government compared to 62% who trust the UK Government.

Meanwhile, a YouGov/ITV poll showed that 62% think the Welsh Government is handling the pandemic well, while only 34% said the same for the UK Government.

There was also a significant gap in how the leaders of the Welsh and UK Governments were deemed to have performed.

With ‘don’t know’ removed, 66% thought First Minister Mark Drakeford had done well while only 39% said the same about Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

The poll, for ITV Cymru Wales and Cardiff University, had a sample of 1,021 Welsh adults aged 18+ and was carried out online by YouGov from 29 May to 1 June 2020.

‘Supportive’

Professor Roger Awan-Scully of Cardiff University, who designed the poll, public attitudes in Wales had changed markedly since he last asked the question in April.

“Support for the Prime Minister’s handling of the crisis has declined across the board: even to some extent among Conservative supporters, but particularly strongly among supporters of other parties,” he said.

“By contrast, for the First Minister, we see rising approval of how he has been handling the issue. Sentiments for his conduct have become much more positive across not only Labour supporters but also those of Plaid Cymru and the Liberal Democrats. Only among Conservatives has there not been a substantial improvement.

“In short, with regard to leaders, this poll shows very positive news for the Labour party, but offers
distinctly negative tidings for the Conservatives. The brief wave of Welsh support for Prime Minister
Johnson early in the crisis now appears to have disappeared.

“Voters in Wales are less supportive of him than they were two months ago, and very substantially less supportive of how he is handling the Covid-19 crisis.”