Support for Royals lower across west Wales and valleys, poll shows
The west of Wales, the valleys and parts of Cardiff, Newport and Swansea are some of the least Royalist areas in the UK, according to a new poll by Focaldata.
The poll commissioned by UnHerd shows support for the Royal Family dipping under half of the respondents in constituencies across Wales from Ynys Môn in the north to Cardiff South.
The poll results come a day after Prince Andrew announced he would “step back from public duties for the foreseeable future”.
He had been under pressure following his interview with the BBC about his friendship with the convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Support for the royals, at 40%, was lowest in Swansea East. Support was highest in Montgomeryshire where 61% agreed with the statement “I am a strong supporter of the continued reign of the Royal Family”.
Across the UK, Liverpool Riverside was the last supportive constituency with support at just 32%. Old Blexley and Sidcup in London was the most supportive with 68% agreeing that they were “strong supporters” of the royals.
Only 2 of 632 constituencies have more people disagreeing than agreeing with the phrase, ‘I am a strong supporter of the continued reign of the Royal Family.’
Results
Here are the results for Wales, from most supportive towards the Royal Family to least supportive:
| Constituency | Support | Oppose |
| Montgomeryshire | 61% | 18% |
| Alyn and Deeside | 58% | 21% |
| Brecon and Radnorshire | 58% | 18% |
| Monmouth | 57% | 21% |
| Clwyd South | 54% | 21% |
| Delyn | 54% | 23% |
| Gower | 54% | 21% |
| Vale of Clwyd | 54% | 20% |
| Vale of Glamorgan | 54% | 19% |
| Wrexham | 54% | 23% |
| Islwyn | 53% | 23% |
| Newport West | 53% | 21% |
| Aberconwy | 52% | 20% |
| Bridgend | 52% | 23% |
| Cardiff North | 52% | 21% |
| Clwyd West | 52% | 19% |
| Newport East | 52% | 23% |
| Carmarthen East and Dinefwr | 51% | 25% |
| Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire | 51% | 18% |
| Llanelli | 51% | 23% |
| Preseli Pembrokeshire | 51% | 20% |
| Torfaen | 51% | 22% |
| Ynys Môn | 50% | 24% |
| Abaeravon | 48% | 25% |
| Ceredigion | 48% | 24% |
| Ogmore | 48% | 24% |
| Neath | 47% | 26% |
| Blaenau Gwent | 46% | 25% |
| Dwyfor Meirionnydd | 46% | 26% |
| Merthyr Tydfil & Rhymney | 46% | 25% |
| Pontypridd | 46% | 26% |
| Caerphilly | 45% | 22% |
| Swansea West | 45% | 27% |
| Arfon | 43% | 30% |
| Rhondda | 43% | 26% |
| Cardiff South | 42% | 25% |
| Cardiff West | 42% | 26% |
| Cardiff Central | 41% | 28% |
| Cynon Valley | 41% | 25% |
| Swansea East | 40% | 21% |
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The Royals are harmless relics. Wales’ gravest threat, in all of its history, has not even been born to sit on his throne yet.
To think that monarchy is a harmless system shows the level of ignornce and naivety of most people. Charles alone is accused of taking money from the wills of WW2 veterans according to the Telegraph…. they are harmlessly getting wealthier and wealthier by privilege and moral cowardice on our part
Much of royalty may be a waste of money which could be deployed far more usefully in the deprived communities throughout the U.K. However Wales, and the rest of the U.K will see no change until there is a radical regime change. Flip-flopping between Tories and Labour ( of both Blairite and Corbynite varieties) will not get us anywhere. Enabling LibDems or even the Faragists would be equally useless in securing change as they both enjoy bending the knee. So these “surveys” serve little or no purpose, just stimulating sterile debate when really people should focus more on what kind… Read more »
True, very true, however I’m extremely proud that Swansea is the area with least support!
When QE2 goes to Heaven, we are in for big changes and, mingled with Brexit, very interesting ones.
This seems to underline the point that there is no great appetite for a republican movement within Wales; and the question of independence should be decoupled from that of republicanism. It is perfectly possible to be a sovereign independent nation without becoming a republic, as can be seen from the examples of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland between 1922 and 1937. Once independence has been achieved, we can always decide separately who the Head of State should be. I’ve always been attracted to what Norway did in 1905, which was to decide that they didn’t want to be a… Read more »
Yes, please let’s avoid a pointless, divisive and inevitably overheated debate. Let Wales enter independence as a Commonwealth Realm ( please let’s not call it a “dominion”) . I doubt that future monarchs will enjoy the same affection HM QEII has enjoyed. Her heirs will spend decades in privileged waiting rooms having had their lives raked over by the tabloids and their foibles and any misdemeanours exposed for the delectation of a sensation hungry public.
Any monarchy poses problems as it tends to be based on bloodlines, the hereditary principle. Surely anyone starting from scratch now would find a more appropriate way of selecting a Head of State.
I agree, but like so many things, we are where we are and the stats in the poll speak for themselves.
My comment was made in the context of change i.e were we to become independent then that would be the right time to ask such questions of ourselves. A Democratic republic is not of itself any less offensive than a monarchy although the Bush family did have a crack at turning USA into a hereditary republic ! Much depends on the quality of the checks and balances that get adopted to ensure that some clown doesn’t get ideas above his station.
That’s true actually, about “choosing a new one all of their own”. There is nothing to stop Wales in the future electing to be a monarchy (NOT somebody else’s ‘principality’!) The current pretender to the throne of Wales is the head of the Anwyl family of Tywyn. Before the War, Plaid Cymru were in favour of this because they saw it as a constitutional safeguard against re-annexation of an independent Cymru by England.
Still very high, cannot believe that the stats are in the 50%
What i find interesting about these stats is the narrowness of the gap between Y Fro Gymraeg/Welsh Wales and British Wales on this issue. There’s not that yawning chasm that’s always perceived to be the case between these two ‘cultural groupings’ -only around 10% on average here. It seems to me that this gap, which was perhaps to be seen at its most graphic in the 1997 referendum, has been closing slowly but surely over the years. Of course, you could argue that this particular divide has now been overtaken by the Leave/Remain divide here, with the old two blocks… Read more »
I’d be a bit cautious about comparing constituencies. If they sampled 21,119 people from 632 constituencies, that an average of only 33 or 34 per constituency.
Why wld you travel all these hrs on a plane tae tell your peado buddy tht you can’t be seen together again dose’nt “IT” ” know there are fne’s calls & txts to do this oh forgot 1 must show respect ?????
Boy probably knows more about bugs etc than most of us and would not have wanted those chats subjected to eavesdropping by GCHQ et al.
I’m another Huw Davies (very common we are!). I found the map colours quite interesting. England in green and white royalist shades, Scotland generally purple and Wales a mixture. Mind you, as England’s national anthem is God Save the Queen it would be difficult for them to have replied otherwise! I would have predicted much less purple on the Scottish map but clearly a thistle’s colour is nicer than a white rose. There seems to be a 20% hard core of anti royal feeling in all the Welsh constituencies regardless of the level of support for the royals (or Plaid!).… Read more »
Indeed….not bothered by the existence of Prince William etc…let them live in fantasy land…….just that they should pay for their illusions with their own private money…. not the tax payers. Also UK need to give Welsh communities back crown land
The English monarchy’s PR machine is considered one of the greatest public relations operation on the planet by many in the industry.
Monarchy is inherently a parasitic system on taxpayers and hoards land and assets it took in dubious and unethical conquests in the past.
Its taken accusations of paedophilia for many to even begin imagining questioning a few specific aspects of it
Whats the age break down? Is monarchy support higher amongst older generations … looks like areas with highest Welsh only identity are more cynical/ free thinking too
LASTLY…. why do we need a head of state in 2019? Republican or Monarch? I dont need the illusions