People don't think the UK Government serves the interests of Wales, but aren't confident in the ability of the Welsh Government to address the biggest issues of the day including the NHS and the cost of living crisis. Those are some of the results of our state of the nation survey, in which more than 8,000 people told us what they think of the biggest issues of the day.
Since our last state of the nation survey, we've had two new prime ministers and a new King. We're a good deal further away from the height of a pandemic that changed everything, and a few steps closer to the next Senedd and general elections.
So many parts of everyday life are falling apart. The cost of living crisis shows no sign of relenting and the NHS is in a state of disrepair. The political world is little better, and the Welsh Government looks set for big changes as Mark Drakeford has announced his intention to stand down in 2024, something that might arrive even sooner.
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Add public sector strikes and a total upheaval of Welsh transport policy into the mix, and you've got a picture of a nation at several crossroads all at once. At such an uncertain time, in so many ways, what do people think about the biggest issues facing Wales today?
This survey is not a scientifically weighted poll. Separate to this, we commissioned pollsters YouGov to ask key questions about support for political parties, the monarchy and independence. Their findings are properly representative of public opinion. Our aim in launching a major survey of our readers was to complement the poll results and provide a broader sense of the opinions shared by WalesOnline readers on a range of issues.
We asked Welsh people what they think of the UK and Welsh Governments, and whether they serve the interests of Wales and are helping to address crises with the NHS and cost of living. We asked whether there should still be a Prince of Wales, or even a monarchy at all. And we asked whether the future of Wales includes independence, higher tax, and anti-strike legislation - all issues that have dominated the political debate over recent months.
From the Prince of Wales to the funding of public services, here's what our readers had to say:
Your 'ideal future' for Wales - is independence on the horizon?
Welsh independence has continued to be a huge topic of discussion in the last year. The date for the first independence march of 2023 has been announced and . Adam Price wrote for WalesOnline in February to say that we will 'soon have a nation of Indy converts' (you can read his column here).
But historically, the appetite for independence has never quite been there - at least, not in a majority. The findings of a WalesOnline and YouGov poll have shown how far Plaid Cymru still has to go if it wants to expand beyond its traditional heartlands, and low levels of support for independence which have to be a "wake up call" for campaigners.
The results of our state of the nation poll don't show a majority for independence - but more than 50% of responses indicate an appetite for at least some more power for Wales. Of the 8289 responses, 38.5% were in favour of an independent Wales - but a further 18.7% wanted Wales to remain part of the UK but with greater powers and autonomy.
But only 7.2% were happy with the status quo, and more than a third - 35.6% - actually wanted less devolution than in the current settlement.
A rise in taxes to fund public services?
Whatever your opinion on the reasons behind it, many of our public services are in a dire state. The waiting list for the Welsh NHS is leaving people living and dying in pain, Wales is in a social worker crisis, and teachers are going on yet another strike over pay and funding.
So, should we raise taxes to fund better services? Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price certainly thinks so - he said a rise in income tax would serve the purpose of "increasing the budget available to deal with the health and care crisis and provide financial help for people in the greatest need."
The plans were comprehensively voted down in the Senedd, but our readers weren't so sure. Responses to the survey were divided down the middle; 47.3% said taxes shouldn't go up to fund public services, 44.5% said they should, and 8.3% said they didn't know. The debate on this one will continue - scroll down to find out who our readers blame more for the state of the NHS between the Welsh and UK governments.
There was a majority for one view though - if England decides not to raise taxes to fund public services, Wales shouldn't either (according to 51.2% of responses). However, a decent number (41.4%) would still want Wales to raise taxes even if England didn't.
If Wales did raise taxes - how should the money be spent?
Following the questions on taxes, we gave our readers the choice between four options for how any raised money could be spent. They could tick as many as they wanted out of 'Transport,' 'Schools,' and 'Hospitals,' with another option of 'No higher taxes' to reiterate if they really didn't want to raise any taxes.
When you remove the people who just selected "No higher taxes," the next most popular option (nearly half of the remaining responses) was for money to be sent to all three public services stated. Almost a quarter just selected hospitals, and the next most popular option was a combination of schools and hospitals.
Does the UK Government serve the interests of Wales?
Pretty emphatically, the people who responded to our survey don't think the UK Government in its current form serves the interests of Wales, with 61.4% answering "not very well," and only a combined 35.1% saying it served Wales' interests "very well" or "somewhat well." More than four times the number of people thought the UK Government served Wales' interests "not at all well" than thought it served them "very well" (14.9%), and a 3.5% weren't sure.
Maybe this is unsurprising, especially considering how low the projected Tory vote share is in Wales as of our recent poll. The picture when it comes to the Welsh Government is a bit more complex....
How well does the Welsh Government serve Wales' interests?
We asked the same question about the Welsh Government and the main difference compared to the UK Government question was an increase in people who thought it did the job "somewhat well. The number of people who think the Welsh Government serves Wales' interests 'very well' is broadly the same as those who think this about the UK Government, sitting at 15.5%.
But 35.3% think it serves the interests of Wales "somewhat well" - 15.1% more than for the UK Government. But the responses to both questions show a deep level of distrust in both governments. Even though a higher number of people think the Welsh Government is doing some form of a good job than the UK Government, a sizeable 47.5% still think the Welsh Government doesn't serve Wales' interests very well at all.
The Welsh language - is the Welsh Government doing enough?
Census results released last year showed that the number of Welsh speakers in Wales actually fell by 24,000 in a decade, something that came in sharp juxtaposition to announcements of millions of pounds being pledged to preserving the language and the prominence of the language on the world stage, with worldwide attention given to the thousands of Welsh fans singing Yma o Hyd and Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau during the Qatar World Cup.
These funding pledges and opportunities for the world to hear the language actually came after the census results were taken. But the numbers still show the huge mountain the Welsh language has to climb to increase.
With that in mind, do people think the Welsh Government is doing enough to support the language? Some 57.1% say yes, with just over a quarter (27.9%) saying no.
How do people consume their news?
We asked whether people consume more or less news about Wales now than they did before it was widely available online, and a decent majority (57.1%) said the answer was more. One third said they consumed the same amount, and only 9.8% said they consumed less.
Should there still be a Prince of Wales?
The Prince and Princess of Wales visited Aberavon and Llanelli only the other day but the debate around their titles remains active. When Prince William was quietly announced as Prince of Wales in a speech by the new King in September, protests were quickly mounted for the day of the King's visit to Cardiff.
Some view the role of Prince of Wales as a chance to get Wales' name out there, while others see it as a reminder of Wales' uncomfortable history within the Union. You can read more about this history, and what's next, here.
One council in Wales recently voted to abolish the title altogether, but last time we asked our readers, a majority wanted it to continue. This time around, the picture was different. This is not a properly weighted poll and may simply reflect the differences in the people who responded this time round. But there also been widespread debate about the title in the last year, following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, that may have changed some minds.
The majority of people who responded wanted rid of the Prince of Wales title. 51.9% responded "no," and 42.9% replied "yes" - with only 5.2% undecided.
Do we still want a monarchy?
People's views on the monarchy itself were a much closer-run race, with support for the monarchy just winning out. It was divided nearly completely down the middle, with 49% saying they'd keep the monarchy and 44.4% saying they didn't want one.
This result was closer than in the WalesOnline and YouGov poll, in which 52% of people said they'd keep the monarchy and only 28% wanted to abolish it - and the YouGov is a much more accurate guide to public opinion. Nonetheless, our State of the Nation result shows that our readers, especially those who are politically engaged and answered the survey, are divided when it comes to the monarchy.
Was the UK Government right to introduce anti-strike laws?
The recent legislation introduced by the UK Government to enforce 'minimum service levels,' effectively limiting the number of people in public service industries who can go on strike, has been met with mass protests. So, what do WalesOnline readers think about it?
More than 50% think the UK Government has got it completely wrong, saying there should be nothing to stop unions striking. A further 10.2% said it was okay in principle but that the government has gone too far by including schools and train services, and around a third (33.7%) think the decision was correct and that public services shouldn't be allowed to strike.
Who should we blame for the state of the NHS?
It doesn't matter which way you slice it - the NHS is in all sorts of trouble, both here in Wales and elsewhere in the UK. Whether it's the constant dispute between nurses and the Welsh Government, the Welsh health board in special measures with serious concerns about its performance, leadership and culture, or the horrendous waiting times for outpatient appointments, there's not much going right.
But where does the blame lie: with the Welsh Government that holds the power to make policy decisions and allocate funding, or the Westminster government that makes some of the big decisions on what money Wales receives in the first place?
By a narrow margin, more of our readers blame the UK Government - with 41.3% of people pointing the finger towards London. This is followed close behind by the 34% who blame the Welsh Government, though, and the 24.7% who blame both equally.
Can the Welsh Government solve the NHS' problems?
The 58.7% of people who think the Welsh Government is either fully or partially to blame for the issues in the NHS - and everyone else - will still hope the Welsh Government can do something to solve these problems. Unfortunately, a whopping 70% of our readers are "not very confident" that it has the ability to do so.
Equally worryingly, only 3.1% of the responses were from people "very confident" in the Welsh Government's ability to address the problems, with a further 24.7% "somewhat confident" and 2.1% unsure.
Is anyone tackling the cost of living crisis properly?
Between the UK and Welsh governments, people don't think either is handling the cost of living crisis well. Some 65% of people think the Welsh Government is either handling it "very badly" (34.4%) or "fairly badly" (30.6%), with the numbers even higher for the UK Government.
Nearly three quarters of people think the UK Government is handling the cost of living crisis "fairly badly" (22.9%) or "very badly" (51%). It's difficult to compare the two directly as, due to an error, there was only a 'don't know' option for the Welsh Government question, and not the one for the UK Government.
But either way, barely anyone thinks the two governments are handling the crisis "very well" - 1.5% for the Welsh Government, and 3.4% for the UK Government.
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