YouGov poll: Most favour ‘Senedd’ over ‘Welsh Parliament’ bilingual name

A plurality of people in Wales support re-naming the Assembly the ‘Senedd’ as the official name in both Welsh and English a poll has found.

A YouGov poll shows that 45% of those who responded support ‘Senedd’ as the only name for the institution, compared to 28% who support a bilingual name ‘Senedd / Welsh Parliament’.

Removing those who responded with ‘Don’t Know’, the figures indicate 56% to 35% in favour of ‘Senedd’.

Excluding don’t knows, 84% of Plaid Cymru supporters and 59% of Labour supporters support the Senedd only name.

Excluding ‘don’t knows’, 48% of Conservative supporters also backed the Welsh only name, despite the opposition to the name from the Conservative group in the National Assembly.

Last month a total of 43 AMs to 13 backed former First Minister Carwyn Jones’ changes to the Senedd and Elections Bill, which would change the name of the institution to both Senedd Cymru and Welsh Parliament.

A vote backing a Welsh-only name was defeated by 38 AMs, with 16 in support and one abstention.

A second vote will take place today.

‘Delighted’

The poll was commissioned by Plaid Cymru. Their Ynys Môn AM Rhun ap Iorwerth said the poll confirmed that the plurality of people of Wales wanted ‘Senedd’ as the only name for the Assembly.

“This poll confirms what we already knew: a plurality of people in Wales want Senedd – and only Senedd, as the name for their national political institution,” he said.

“What’s also revealing is that a majority of Labour and Tory supporters think it should be Senedd in both languages. Not only are Tory AMs out of touch with the people of Wales – they’re out of touch with their supporters as well.

“I was delighted that a number of Labour members have already signed up to support our amendment for a Senedd only name but the Labour Welsh Government holds the casting vote.

“Wales backs Senedd. Labour supporters back Senedd. Will the Labour Government show that they are in keeping with the people of Wales and also back Senedd?

“This goes beyond party politics. This is about showing that the Welsh language belongs to us all. This is about showing that we want to develop a new kind of democracy in Wales.

“Let’s be confident in ourselves, uniting the nation behind the name that belongs to everyone regardless of their language, reflecting both our heritage and the dawn of a new kind of democracy. This is our Senedd, a unique name for a unique Parliament.

The total sample size was 1,043 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 8th – 12th November 2019.  The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all adults in Wales (aged 18+).