New poll reveals strong support for nurses pay rise in Wales

ITV Cymru Wales and Cardiff University’s latest opinion poll has revealed that the majority of people in Wales want nurses to receive a pay rise – but are unsure how to pay for it.

The Barn Cymru poll conducted by YouGov for ITV Cymru Wales and Cardiff University, revealed that 86% of people in Wales support raising NHS nurses salaries, but just under a third of those polled (29%) said they would be willing to pay more tax in order to enable the pay rise.

Although the support for nurses’ pay rise in this poll was “about as high as you get” from polling data according to Dr Jac Larner from Cardiff University’s Welsh Governance Centre, nearly half of those polled either didn’t know how it should be funded or didn’t agree with the options offered in the poll.

21% of those polled would prefer other services to be cut in order to fund the pay rise and very few (5%) would support a reduction in spending in NHS services to fund the pay rise.

Dr Jac Larner, from Cardiff University’s Welsh Governance Centre said: 

“When we ask how to fund those things, there is a lot of confusion. The economy is complicated and it’s made more complicated, when, during strike negotiations, there seems to be a period of time where the government will hold out and say ‘we can’t afford to do this’ and then a few weeks later there is a settlement. 

So therefore it’s probably not entirely clear in people’s minds how we fund these things in the first place. It’s not unsurprising that people aren’t entirely sure.”

The poll also revealed that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has failed to win back the Welsh voters lost during Liz Truss’ short premiership. Only 20% of those who answered the poll would vote to keep the current UK Conservative Government, with the majority (49%) opting for Labour.

The picture is much the same for Senedd voting intentions, with Welsh Labour remaining in the lead as the preferred political party of choice for voters.

Adrian Masters, ITV Cymru Wales’ Political Editor said:

“It doesn’t seem like voters are convinced that Rishi Sunak is prioritising Wales’ interests even if there is a slight glimmer of hope for the Conservatives in Wales. 

Even with a slight drop, Labour in Wales continued to enjoy a strong performance in this poll with Keir Starmer looking to win a majority at the next UK election based on these figures.”

Barn Cymru is a collaborative partnership between ITV Cymru Wales, the Wales Governance Centre at Cardiff University, and the leading polling agency YouGov. The poll aims to provide an insight into people’s beliefs, attitudes and opinions and to gain real-time feedback on public views in Wales. 

YouGov polled a representative sample of 1,081 Welsh voters, aged 16+, between February 3 and February 7 for ITV Cymru Wales and Cardiff University.