YesCymru most successful political group claims former chief

Welsh independence march in Bangor

Welsh independence march in Bangor where organisers claimed more than 10,000 people attended

By Gwyn Loader
Newyddion S4C

YesCymru performed better than any other Welsh political group this year, its former chief executive said.

Gwern Gwynfil claimed it had done a better job at keeping members, but he was sacked from his role as its first chief executive on Monday.

The Welsh independence movement claimed membership numbers soared to a high of 18,000 in 2021.

However, Newyddion S4C understands the total number of all members since its inception is less than 10,000.

Despite this it has held a number of highly successful marches, drawing thousands of people to the streets of towns and cities including Cardiff, Swansea, Wrexham and Merthyr Tydfil.

It claimed there were more than 10,000 people on a march in Bangor in September.

YesCymru was formed in 2014, and is a cross-party political movement calling for Welsh independence.

In 2022, Mr Gwynfil was appointed as its first chief executive.

He said figures the organisation announced in 2021 that it had 18,000 members were "misleading" with "data incredibly erroneous" and "wasn't true nor close to being true".

"It was substantially less than that," he said.

"That's created a misconception of the resources the movement has at its disposal."

The whole YesCymru board resigned in the summer of 2021, and those currently involved did not want to comment on past announcements.

Organisers estimate about 10,000 people attended the march in Cardiff in October 2022

Mr Gwynfil said his understanding was his role had now been scrapped, adding: "The line in the letter was that it was due to the needs of the business changing.

"I committed to the job for three years on the understanding the role was to last for three years.

"It is disappointing it has been terminated after some 15 months."

A statement from the national governing body of YesCymru said a majority of board members felt continuing to employ a chief executive was "unsustainable".

It said: "The basic intention behind the idea of creating the post of chief executive was to increase the membership and income of the organisation, with the hope that the post would eventually be able to finance itself as a result of the increase of the income.

"Unfortunately, and although we accept the national economic factors are beyond our control, YesCymru's membership has not grown since Gwern was appointed."

However, Mr Gwynfil defended his record as the chief executive, claiming "every political party and campaign group in Wales has lost members over the past 12 months, that's not true for YesCymru".

"We've kept the same membership level and indeed have increased it somewhat," he added.

YesCymru responded saying it currently has around 6,500 members and claimed to have had more than 7,000 members in August 2022.

Getty Images

YesCymru was established in 2016

It added: "YesCymru spends 20p of every £1 it receives from its members on just one person's salary. In the financial climate that challenges organisations and businesses everywhere, we as a board do not feel that enables us to continue on a solid financial footing."

Mr Gwynfil responded saying "several voluntary organisations spend 40 to 60% of income on staffing, that is not unusual".

Yes Cymru currently employ a full-time executive office and a finance and administrative officer who works one day a week.

Mr Gwynfil said he remained a member of the movement and is "confident" it will continue to play a part in calling for Welsh independence.

A YesCymru statement said of the loss of his role: "It is important to emphasise that this was not an easy decision, ending any person's contract is a very difficult decision to take, as Gwern Gwynfil is such a well-liked and popular person by everyone, the decision was even more difficult."

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