UKIP support surged in Wales last year during the ASSembly election campaign and again this June. From my records we had just 250 members in the whole of Wales in January 2003. That figure now stands at 780+ and continues to grow steadily. Maybe 1000 by the time of the general election.
Plaid Cymru obviously has strong support in Wales and is very pro-EU, so we don't pick up a lot of votes from them. We have gained support from, obvoiusly, the Conservatives and to a surprising extent from Labour.
It has to be remembered that just 50% of the Welsh electorate voted in the ASSembly referendum in 1997. Of those just 25.2% voted for it, so you could say that 74.8% didn't want an ASSembly, yet it went ahead. I would estimate that when you ask about the ASSembly, probably less than 1 person in 20 would say that they support it. Many people who voted yes now regret doing so.
I for one think that the present drive for regionalisation, albeit derailed by the good people of the north-east, is disastrous for Britain. Were England to be split INTO phpbb_regions at the behest of Two Jags and the EU, we would end up with nothing more than the 'Balkanisation' of Britain. If Wales and Scotland were to become independent nations as some are suggesting, what would stop, say, the east Midlands or the north-west of England also requesting independence. Maybe not as far fetched as it initially seems.
The ASSembly came INTO phpbb_being partly fuelled not by pro-Welsh feelings but by anti-English feelings. Many thought that they would be sticking two fingers up to England. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.
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