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No, the ‘genuinely Welsh’ did not vote Remain
Labour’s fortunes in Wales are not helped by the strange misconception that the electorate are pro-EU. The opposite is true, writes ROBERT GRIFFITHS
A cyclist in Merthyr Tydfil, one of Wales's many strongly Leave-voting areas

IN order to win the election, the Labour Party not only has to capture dozens of Tory-held marginal seats which voted Leave in the EU referendum — it also has to retain most if not all of the seats won at the last election in June 2017.

For the past 90 years, Labour has been able to count on its loyal supporters in Wales to return a majority of Labour MPs to Westminster. The south Wales mining valleys, in particular, have voted more solidly for Labour than any other major region of Britain since 1922.

However, there have been some worrying signs that this loyalty is under strain. The first opinion poll in Wales in the current campaign, carried out by YouGov, puts Labour just one percentage point above the Tories.

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