Majority don't trust Liz Truss' government to make right decisions for Wales, poll reveals

Liz Truss speaking at the All Nations Centre in Cardiff as part of her campaign to be leader of the Conservative Party. Credit: PA

The majority of people in Wales don't trust Liz Truss' government to make the right decisions for the country, a poll has revealed.

The latest YouGov poll, conducted for ITV Cymru Wales and Cardiff University, shows 66% of people lack faith in the new PM's government.

Although 12% of those surveyed thought Truss - who won the Conservative Leadership contest on September 6 - would make a good prime minister, nearly half of the respondents thought she'd be a poor or terrible PM.

To what extent, if at all, do you trust Liz Truss's government to make the right decisions for Wales?

Dr Jac Larner, from Cardiff University's Welsh Governance Centre, says the poll suggests that Liz Truss faces the most hostile political and economic situation that any incoming Prime Minister has had in recent decades.

He added: "Far from enjoying an initial polling ‘bounce’, the public appear to have little confidence in her as Prime Minister or in her ability to make the right decisions for Wales.

"This is true even when we only look at 2019 Conservative voters, with only 29% confident she will be a good Prime Minister and 38% saying they don’t trust her government to deliver for Wales.

"Looking at Westminster vote intention, the poll has Labour on its highest share of the vote since March 2018 and the Conservatives on their lowest since June 2016. This brings the gap between the parties now to a substantial 23 point lead for Labour, the highest in almost a decade."

It is always important to remember that this is only one poll and as such is liable to some degree of error, Dr Larner added. "That said, if these figures were to play out in a real general election the Conservatives in Wales are close to a 1997-style electoral wipe-out territory.

"In Senedd voting intention, we see a similar pattern with Conservative figures dropping to their lowest levels since the summer of 2019, although there are more modest changes for Labour here.

"Plaid Cymru return to being the second largest party in the constituency and list votes, though this is less a result of their numbers growing but more the Conservatives considerable drop."

Ms Truss was still yet to make contact with Mark Drakeford more than two weeks after becoming PM.

Three of the previous UK Prime Ministers - Boris Johnson, Theresa May and David Cameron - all rang Wales' First Minister on the day they took on the new position.

We asked: Looking forward, do you think Liz Truss will be...A good/great PM - 12%An average PM - 25%A poor/terrible PM - 45%Don't know - 18%

Just two days after Liz Truss becoming PM, the Queen died and she led tributes to Her Majesty, who passed away on September 8 at the age of 96.

After a period of national mourning, Ms Truss travelled to the United States to attend the 77th UN General Assembly, meeting with President Joe Biden.

On Friday, September 23, Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng announced he would slash the top rate of income tax for the wealthiest in the country in his 'mini-budget'.

From a sample size of 1,014 adults, voting intention overall has swung from Conservatives to Labour since our last poll carried out in June 2022.Westminster voting intention:

  • Conservative - 23% (-3)

  • Labour - 46% (+5)

  • Liberal Democrats - 5% (-2)

  • Plaid Cymru - 15% (-1)

  • Reform UK - 5% (+1)

  • Green Party - 3% (-1)

  • Other - 3% (+1)

Mark Drakeford Credit: PA

The same sample of people were asked how they thought Mark Drakeford is doing as First Minister of Wales. The majority of people (54%) thought the Welsh Labour leader was doing well, 35% think he is doing badly and 11% answered 'don't know'.

Earlier this month, the First Minister said his relationship with the reappointed Welsh Secretary is “off to a reasonable start”.

Mr Drakeford revealed that he'd met with Sir Robert Buckland more times in the past few months than his predecessor, Simon Hart , in a year in the role.

Following the death of the Queen, Mr Drakeford shared a telephone call with the new Prince of Wales, and said there is an "alive" debate surrounding the role, with "no rush" for an investiture.

YouGov polled a representative sample of 1,014 Welsh voters, aged 16+, between September 20-22 for ITV Cymru Wales and Cardiff University.

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