Support for Welsh independence has reached its highest recorded level, according to a new poll commissioned by YesCymru ahead of this month’s March for Independence in Barry.
The landmark poll, carried out by Redfield & Wilton Strategies, asked 1,000 adults in Wales how they would vote if a referendum on independence were held tomorrow. Among decided voters, 41 percent said they would vote Yes, making it one of the strongest results in the history of the independence movement.
The poll results were released at a press conference in Barry on Friday 4 April, where campaigners gathered to discuss the findings and look ahead to the upcoming march.
YesCymru Chair Phyl Griffiths described the result as a “milestone moment” for the campaign:
This poll shows that support for independence is growing at a fast pace, up five points from the same company’s poll last year. Nearly half of working-age adults now have confidence in Wales’s ability to govern itself. We’re witnessing a real shift in attitudes, and people across Wales are ready to have a serious conversation about independence.
The figures highlight a significant generational trend. Among 25 to 34-year-olds, 72 percent said they would vote Yes, while support across the wider 18 to 64 age group now stands at 49 percent. This growing confidence among younger voters points to a long-term shift in how people view Wales’s future.
Kiera Marshall, aged 26, who will be speaking at the March for Independence in Barry on Saturday 26 April, said:
As a young person living in Wales, I want a future where decisions about our lives are made here, not in Westminster. My generation has too often been overlooked and let down, so it’s no surprise that 72 percent of us now support independence. It’s no longer a fringe idea, it’s becoming the mainstream view for young people in Wales.
Mark Hooper, one of the organisers of the Barry march, added:
The energy behind this movement is growing with every march, every conversation, and now, with this poll, the data backs it up. The March for Independence in Barry will be a chance for people from all over Wales to come together and show that this support is real, it’s rising, and it’s unstoppable.
A second question in the same poll explored views on independence in a scenario where Wales could rejoin the European Union. In that context, 51 percent of decided voters said they would vote Yes, indicating that when people are presented with a clear vision of life beyond Westminster, support increases even further.