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Carwyn Jones’ decision to give a Cabinet position to the National Assembly’s sole remaining Liberal Democrat AM has been backed by more people in Wales than oppose it, an opinion poll has shown.

Kirsty Williams was Mr Jones’ surprise choice as Cabinet Secretary for Education after the May election which saw her party’s representation drop from five AMs to just one.

Ms Williams agreed to join the Welsh Government after reaching a policy agreement with Labour, which won 29 of the 60 Assembly seats. Among the commitments agreed was the reduction of infant school class sizes to a maximum of 25.

Some Labour AMs were unhappy at the time that Mr Jones had made the appointment without consulting the party, a requirement when coalition deals are done. But the First Minister and his allies maintain it is not a coalition because a party can only form an Assembly group if it has at least three AMs. Ms Williams, however, got her appointment to the Cabinet ratified by a special meeting of the Welsh Liberal Democrats.

Poll results

In a poll undertaken by Beaufort Research for the Western Mail, 32% agreed that the First Minister was right to give a Cabinet job to Ms Williams, while 20% thought he was wrong to do so.

As many as 48% of the sample said they didn’t know.

Support for Ms Williams’ appointment was highest in North Wales, where 37% approved of it against 15% who didn’t. In West South Wales, 35% approved and 16% disapproved, while in Cardiff and South East Wales 32% approved and 25% disapproved.

In Ms Williams’ home region of Mid and West Wales – she is the AM for Brecon and Radnorshire – support for her appointment came out at 28% against 16% who opposed it.

In the Valleys, opinions were evenly split, with 26% in favour and 26% against.

Men were marginally more in support of the appointment than women, with 34% of men backing it against 20% who didn’t. Some 30% of women supported the role going to Ms Williams while 19% were against.

Younger people were less likely to have an opinion on the matter than older ones, with 60% of 16-24 year olds saying ‘don’t know’, rising to 63% of those aged between 25 and 34.

The least number of ‘don’t knows’ were in the 55-64 age group (38%), where 44% supported Ms Williams’ appointment and 18% opposed it.

In terms of age, the least support for the appointment was among those aged between 25 and 34, where 20% backed it and 17% opposed it. However, this age group had the highest level of ‘don’t knows’

The more prosperous people were, the more likely they were to back the appointment. Those in the managerial and professional AB classes supported it by 42% to 23%, those in the supervisory and clerical C1 class by 35% to 19%, those in the skilled C2 class by 31% to 20% and those in the semi-skilled, unskilled and non-working DE classes by 26% to 19%. The level of ‘don’t knows’ rises down the social grade scale

Support for the appointment was virtually the same between Welsh speakers (33% to 20%) and non-Welsh speakers (32% to 20%).

"This is a chance to embrace a new politics"

Mark Williams MP, leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, said: “I am pleased to see that there is a clear majority of people in favour of Kirsty Williams delivering Welsh Liberal Democrat policies and values at the heart of government.

“Deciding to go into government was a major decision, but I am absolutely clear that the greater risk would be allowing this opportunity for real change in our education system to pass us by.

“This is a chance to embrace a new politics. Kirsty already has a record of delivery in the Assembly and I am no doubt that she will continue that record by working to deliver smaller class sizes and reducing the attainment gap between the poorest pupils and their peers.”

* The majority of fieldwork was carried out between June 6 and June 19, with the remainder conducted shortly afterwards. A total of 1,011 interviews were completed and analysed, and the sample is representative of those resident in Wales aged 16 and over.