Devolution in the United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, devolution (historically called home rule) is the Parliament of the United Kingdom's statutory granting of a greater level of self-government to the Scottish Parliament, the Senedd (Welsh Parliament), the Northern Ireland Assembly and the London Assembly and to their associated executive bodies: the Scottish Government, the Welsh Government, the Northern Ireland Executive and in England, the Greater London Authority and combined authorities.

Legislation passed following the EU membership referendum, including the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020, undermines and restricts the authority of the devolved legislatures in both Scotland and Wales.

This followed escalating violence by state and paramilitary organisations following the suppression of civil rights demands by Northern Ireland Catholics.

However, at both these meetings, the DUP refused to assent to the election of a speaker[11] as part of a protest against the Northern Ireland Protocol, which meant that the assembly could not continue other business, including the appointment of a new Executive.

[16] In 1871, William Ewart Gladstone stated at a meeting held in Aberdeen that if Ireland was to be granted home rule, then the same should apply to Scotland.

A Scottish home rule bill was presented to the Westminster Parliament in 1913 but the legislative process was interrupted by the First World War.

This body proved to be the biggest mover in favour of the formation of a Scottish assembly, collecting over two million signatures in the late 1940s and early 1950s and attracting support from across the political spectrum.

In 1978 the Labour government passed the Scotland Act which legislated for the establishment of a Scottish Assembly, provided the Scots voted for such in a referendum.

[21] An amendment to the Scotland Act that had been proposed by Labour MP George Cunningham, who shortly afterwards defected to the newly formed Social Democratic Party (SDP), required 40% of the total electorate to vote in favour of an assembly.

[23] The 18 years of Conservative government, under Margaret Thatcher and then John Major, saw strong resistance to any proposal for devolution for Scotland, and for Wales.

[30] It restricts the ability of the Scottish government to make different economic or social choices from those made in Westminster.

A cross-party Parliament for Wales campaign in the early 1950s was supported by a number of Labour MPs, mainly from the more Welsh-speaking areas, together with the Liberal Party and Plaid Cymru.

Labour's incremental embrace of a distinctive Welsh polity was arguably catalysed in 1966 when Plaid Cymru president Gwynfor Evans won the Carmarthen by-election.

In May 1997, the Labour government of Tony Blair was elected with a promise of creating a devolved assembly in Wales; the referendum in 1997 resulted in a narrow "yes" vote.

Since the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, there has been a wider debate about the UK adopting a federal system with each of the four Home Nations having its own, equal devolved legislatures and law-making powers.

Devolution for England was proposed in 1912 by the Member of Parliament for Dundee, Winston Churchill, as part of the debate on Home Rule for Ireland.

In a white paper published in 2002, the government proposed decentralisation of power across England similar to that done for Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland in 1998.

[58] In 2017 the work of these authorities along with Public Health England achieved a devolution agreement with the national government in regard to some healthcare services.

[61] The Campaign aimed to create a Northern Government with tax-raising powers and responsibility for policy areas including economic development, education, health, policing and emergency services.

[65] A proposal to devolve political power to a fully elected Regional Assembly was put to public vote in the 2004 North East England devolution referendum.

Arguments for devolution to Yorkshire, which has a population of 5.4 million – similar to Scotland – and whose economy is roughly twice as large as that of Wales, include focus on the area as a cultural region or even a nation separate from England,[67] whose inhabitants share common features.

[77] Over the latter part of the 2010s and into the 2020s, the national government has progressed with proposed deals for more groups of local authorities to devolve at a sub-regional level.

[81][82] As the Labour government hopes that combined authorities will be established throughout England, the Mayoral Council would eventually evolve into an all-England forum.

In 2022, Labour also proposed a similar body to be known as the "Council of England", chaired by the prime minister and bringing together combined authority mayors, representatives of local government and other stakeholders.

A law-making Cornish Assembly is party policy for the Liberal Democrats, Mebyon Kernow, Plaid Cymru and the Greens.

[90] On 12 December 2001, the Cornish Constitutional Convention and Mebyon Kernow submitted a 50,000-strong petition supporting devolution in Cornwall to 10 Downing Street.

Cornwall has a distinct language and the Cornish have been recognised as a national minority within the United Kingdom, a status shared with the Scots, the Welsh, and the Irish.

Among the points clarified in the agreements were that: Jersey has moved further than the other two Crown dependencies in asserting its autonomy from the United Kingdom.

[107] In July 2005, the Policy and Resources Committee of the States of Jersey established the Constitutional Review Group, chaired by Sir Philip Bailhache, with terms of reference 'to conduct a review and evaluation of the potential advantages and disadvantages for Jersey in seeking independence from the United Kingdom or other incremental change in the constitutional relationship, while retaining the Queen as Head of State'.

On the basis of the established principles the Council of Ministers decided to "ensure that Jersey is prepared for external change that may affect the Island’s formal relationship with the United Kingdom and/or European Union".