Welsh voters appear to be focusing on issues that are better for Labour

A fightback is underway, but there should be no premature celebration from Labour supporters.

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson (centre right) poses with livestock while visiting the Royal Welsh Winter Fair during an election campaign event in Llanelwedd in north Wales on November 25, 2019. - The ruling Conservative Party is currently ahead in opinion polls over the opposition Labour Party as the build-up towards the pre-Christmas general election continues. (Photo by Dan Kitwood / POOL / AFP) (Photo by DAN KITWOOD/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

We didn’t plan it like that. On the same day that the Conservatives launched their Welsh manifesto – alongside an appearance by Boris Johnson at the Royal Welsh Show’s Winter Fair, conveniently located in the key Tory target seat of Brecon and Radnor – the team behind the Welsh Political Barometer polls published its latest offering.

The poll (conducted by YouGov for ITV Wales and Cardiff University) showed Labour support in Wales rising nine points since the previous poll at the start of the campaign, and putting in considerable doubt the large-scale Welsh Conservative gains that had hitherto appeared plausible.