Welsh Voters Want To Stay In The EU — Two Weeks After Voting To Leave It
Welsh voters are suffering from a case of “Bregret” after voting to leave the European Union, a new survey has revealed.
On June 23, a slim majority of Wales voted in favor of cutting ties with Brussels – with 52.5 percent of voters backing plans for a so-called “Brexit.” Nationwide, the campaign to leave Europe came out on top with a razor-thin 51.9 percent.
Two weeks on, that decision has plunged Britain into political chaos.
Prime Minister David Cameron has resigned from office, sending his party into a bloody leadership contest. Meanwhile, the Labour Party has issued a vote of no confidence in leader Jeremy Corbyn for a perceived lack of enthusiasm while campaigning to remain with Brussels. Long-time Brexit advocate and UKIP leader Nigel Farage has also resigned.
Meanwhile, global markets are still working to rebuild after shedding almost $2 trillion worth of value in the wake of last month’s referendum. The pound has since dropped to a 31-year low, and multiple multinational corporations have announced they are considering plans to pull out of London entirely.
Bearing all that in mind, Welsh voters have now decided they’ve changed their minds – and would actually much rather stay within the European Union.
According to a new survey conducted by YouGov for ITV Wales and Cardiff University, 53 percent of Welsh voters now say they would now choose to remain with Europe if given another chance.
Exclusive poll for ITV Wales shows Welsh voters now support EU membership https://t.co/oazZQrXnEO pic.twitter.com/qUsAemLBsS
— ITV Wales News (@ITVWales) July 5, 2016
Of all voters surveyed, 97 percent of EU supporters told pollsters they would maintain their position in the event of a second referendum. By contrast, just 86 percent of Brexit supporters said they would vote to leave a second time.
Cardiff University research shows that Wales currently receives a net benefit of £245 million every year from Britain’s EU membership.
“There appears to be a small cohort of voters who voted to Leave, but who may now be experienced what some in the media have termed ‘Bregret’,” explained Cardiff University’s Professor Roger Scully.
Young, educated voters associated with Labour and the Welsh nationalist Plaid Cymru party were most likely to back the remain campaign. Meanwhile, those who continue to support a Brexit were more likely to be older, less affluent, and aligned with the Conservative Party or Nigel Farage’s UKIP.
With last month’s shock referendum result having given way to renewed calls for independence in Scotland – which overwhelmingly voted to remain in the EU – researchers went on to ask Welsh voters whether they might consider pushing for their own independence.
A whopping 81 percent of voters said they did not support Welsh independence.
That being said, pollsters decided to push the question further by asking voters whether they would reconsider supporting Welsh independence in the event of Scottish independence being granted. That brought support up to 24 percent.
Finally, voters were asked whether guaranteed E.U. membership would be enough in order to convince them to back independence for Wales. In this hypothetical scenario, 35 percent of individuals said they would be willing to support independence.
“The overall message appears to be that while Brexit might re-open the discussion on Welsh independence, there is little sign that the Leave vote in the E.U. referendum would lead to a Leave vote in a referendum on Welsh independence from the UK,” Scully said.
YouGov’s poll quizzed 1,010 Welsh adults between June 30 and July 4. Of those who participated, 53 percent told researchers they had voted to leave the European Union.
[Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images]
