oh wellI can’t talk for the Welsh because I am not Welsh, but I believe a lot of Welsh people regarded him well before all this due to that fact that Wales is quite an impoverished part of the UK and having someone from Wales, with a Welsh accent (instead of your average RP) speaking for the UK in such a high up position was just a nice thing to have. He did at least one documentary on Wales, he spoke Welsh fluently and clearly felt very strongly about his country and he was well liked for that.
At least they still have Tom Jones and Nerys Hughes