SUPPORT for Welsh independence has reached its highest recorded level in a new poll, with 41% of decided voters saying they would back a break from the UK if a referendum were held tomorrow.
The survey, conducted by Redfield & Wilton Strategies on behalf of grassroots campaign group YesCymru, represents a five-point rise in support compared to the same poll carried out last year. Excluding those who responded “don’t know”, the results mark what campaigners are calling a “milestone moment” for the movement.
Support appears strongest among younger voters, with an overwhelming 72% of those aged 25 to 34 indicating they would vote for independence. Across the broader working-age demographic of 18 to 64-year-olds, nearly half expressed a preference for Wales to govern itself independently.
Phyl Griffiths, Chair of YesCymru, said the figures reflect a significant and growing appetite for change.
“This poll is a milestone moment for the Welsh independence movement,” he said.
“It shows that support is growing at a fast pace, up five points from the same company’s poll last year, and that 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.”
YesCymru has described the polling as further evidence of mounting confidence in Wales’s future as an independent nation. The data was gathered from a representative sample of 1,000 Welsh adults aged 18 and over, between 24 and 27 March.
The growing momentum comes on the heels of another boost for the independence cause. In December, Plaid Cymru topped a Senedd voting intention poll for the first time since 2010, narrowly overtaking Welsh Labour. The Barn Cymru poll suggested Plaid would win 24% of the vote in a theoretical Senedd election, edging past Labour on 23%.
Among those encouraged by the latest figures is 26-year-old Kiera Marshall, who is set to speak at the upcoming March for Independence in Barry on 26 April.
“As a young person living in Wales, I want a future where decisions about our lives are made here, not in Westminster,” she said.
“My generation has too often been overlooked and let down by decisions made far away, so it’s no surprise to me that 72% of people in my age group now support independence.
“It’s no longer a fringe idea, it’s now the majority view among my generation in Wales. We want a better, fairer future for our country.”
Organisers of the march in Barry say the event will be a powerful demonstration of the growing enthusiasm for independence across Wales.
Mark Hooper, one of the event’s coordinators, said:
“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, just three weeks away, will be a chance for people across Wales to come together and show that this support is real, it’s rising, and it’s unstoppable.”
With public sentiment shifting and political momentum building, the independence debate in Wales appears to be entering a new and more serious phase—one that its supporters believe could soon shape the nation’s future.
