Welsh ‘fed up’ of Assembly Labour Party dominance – YouGov

The people of Wales are getting tired of the Labour Party’s dominance in the Welsh National Assembly, according to a new opinion poll.

And the public are not too impressed either with the way the Welsh Government is running the NHS, the S4C/ITV Wales poll reveals.

S4C programme Y Byd yn ei Le commissioned a wide-ranging opinion poll asking the people of Wales to deliver their opinion on the Welsh National Assembly and Welsh Government’s record over the last 20 years.

The poll comes as the National Assembly marks its 20th anniversary this week, with the findings being revealed in full in the programme tomorrow night (Tuesday, 7 May, English subtitles available).

In the programme, at 9.30pm, presenter Guto Harri will ask people and politicians what do they think the National Assembly in Cardiff Bay has achieved since 1999 and what does the future hold?

The results of the opinion poll, conducted for the programme by YouGov, does not make comfortable reading for the party which has been in power either on its own or in coalition since the beginning.

43% agree with the statement that the National Assembly has been too dominated by the Labour Party, with only 14% disagreeing.

And Health Secretary Vaughan Gething is likely to be concerned with this poll verdict that more people feel that devolution has led to a decline in NHS standards (29%) than feel that is has led to an improvement (23%).

Other poll findings suggest that there is confusion about who is responsible for what in Wales; how the Welsh Government and the UK government share out the running of everything from welfare to health and broadcasting to education. And a large majority feel that devolution has been too focused on Cardiff to the detriment of other parts of Wales.

Presenter and broadcast journalist Guto Harri says, “One party states are rarely healthy and the Welsh Labour Party clearly have a challenge to explain how support for the concept of devolution is coupled with frustration at what the Welsh Assembly government has achieved – and hasn’t – under their lead.

“Other parties clearly need to reflect on why they have failed to capitalise on the frustration with Labour rule, and I look forward to exploring those issues on Tuesday night.“

The programme will hear the views of people in Caernarfon, Swansea and Aberystwyth and politicians of all political persuasions including former First Minister Carwyn Jones, former Plaid Cymru leader Ieuan Wyn Jones, Conservative Assembly leader Paul Davies, Labour Brexit Minister Jeremy Miles, Plaid Cymru AM Sian Gwenllian and Presiding Officer Elin Jones.

YouGov conducted the poll on behalf of S4C and ITV, 1025 people were interviewed last month.

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