UK Research and Innovation’s Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) has awarded over £1m to the researchers to lead the next Welsh Election Study.

The research team will oversee the collection and dissemination of survey data covering the next Senedd election, scheduled to take place on 7th May 2026. The election will be Wales’s first under a new electoral system.

Professor Alison Park, deputy executive chair of ESRC, said: “Since 1999, the Welsh Election Study has been a vital lens into Welsh politics, elections, and voter behaviour. We look forward to seeing the insights from the next Welsh Election Study led by Swansea, building on the excellent work of the teams which preceded them.”

The project (WES 2026 ) will also partner with WISERD (Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research and Data), a social science venture between the universities of Aberystwyth, Bangor, Cardiff, South Wales and Swansea.

Through this partnership, the researchers will draw on WISERD-curated data and work with its politics and governance research network to involve the academic community.

Ahead of the election, WES 2026 will launch a new website, podcast series, and school-based activities aimed at engaging with young voters.

Professor Matt Wall, Swansea University, said: “The survey will be designed to allow comparative analysis of the 2026 Welsh election across the UK and internationally. WES 2026 will make it possible to study place-politics in new ways. Drawing on the opportunities of geo-tagged, publicly available data and working with the Welsh social research community through our partnership with WISERD, the 2026 WES will see Wales at the cutting edge of electoral analysis techniques, prioritising data quality, accessibility and impact.”

Dr Anwen Elias, reader in politics at Aberystwyth University, said: “This project will track public opinion in Wales at a critical time for Welsh democracy – with the introduction of a new system for electing representatives to a larger Senedd, and the political changes that may come about as a result of these reforms.”