Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolved territories have the power to make legislation relevant to the area, thus granting them a higher level of autonomy.
Scottish independence is the idea of Scotland as a sovereign state, independent from the United Kingdom, and refers to the political movement that is campaigning to bring it about.
In the United Kingdom, the Electoral Commission is the national election commission, created in 2001 as a result of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. It is an independent agency that regulates party and election finance and sets standards for how elections should be run.
A post-legislative referendum was held in Scotland in 1979 to decide whether there was a sufficient support for a Scottish Assembly proposed in the Scotland Act 1978 among the Scottish electorate. This was an act to create a devolved deliberative assembly for Scotland. An amendment to the Act stipulated that it would be repealed if less than 40% of the total electorate voted "Yes" in the referendum. The result was that 51.6% supported the proposal, but with a turnout of 64%, which represented only 32.9% of the registered electorate. The Act was subsequently repealed. A second referendum to create a devolved legislature in Scotland was held in 1997 under a newly elected Labour government, which led to the enactment of the Scotland Act 1998 and the creation of a devolved Scottish Parliament in 1999.
Politics in Wales forms a distinctive polity in the wider politics of the United Kingdom, with Wales as one of the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom (UK).
Vernon Bernard Bogdanor is a British political scientist and historian, research professor at the Institute for Contemporary British History at King's College London and professor of politics at the New College of the Humanities. He is also emeritus professor of politics and government at the University of Oxford and an emeritus fellow of Brasenose College, Oxford.
Devolution is the process in which the central British parliament grants administrative powers to the devolved Scottish Parliament. Prior to the advent of devolution, some had argued for a Scottish Parliament within the United Kingdom – while others have since advocated for complete independence. The people of Scotland first got the opportunity to vote in a referendum on proposals for devolution in 1979 and, although a majority of those voting voted 'Yes', the referendum legislation also required 40% of the electorate to vote 'Yes' for the plans to be enacted and this was not achieved. A second referendum opportunity in 1997, this time on a strong proposal, resulted in an overwhelming 'Yes' victory, leading to the Scotland Act 1998 being passed and the Scottish Parliament being established in 1999.
The Constitution Society is an independent, non-party educational trust based in Westminster, London. It was established in 2009 to promote public understanding of the British Constitution and to work to encourage informed debate between legislators, academics and the public about proposals for constitutional change. The Constitution Society does not take any position on the merits of specific reform proposals but opposes ill-considered, piecemeal constitutional change. Alongside its focus on constitutional issues, The Constitution Society supports initiatives which aim to improve the quality of government and legislation generally in the UK.
In the United Kingdom, devolution is the Parliament of the United Kingdom's statutory granting of a greater level of self-government to the Scottish Parliament, the Senedd, 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.
A citizens' assembly is a body formed from randomly selected citizens to deliberate on important issues.
A second referendum on independence from the United Kingdom (UK) has been proposed by the Scottish Government. An independence referendum was first held on 18 September 2014, with 55% voting "No" to independence. The Scottish Government stated in its white paper for independence that voting Yes was a "once in a generation opportunity to follow a different path, and choose a new and better direction for our nation". Following the "No" vote, the cross party Smith Commission proposed areas that could be devolved to the Scottish Parliament; this led to the passing of the Scotland Act 2016, formalising new devolved policy areas in time for the 2016 Scottish Parliament election campaign.
The European Research Group (ERG) is a research support group and caucus of Eurosceptic Conservative Members of Parliament of the United Kingdom. The journalist Sebastian Payne described it in the Financial Times as "the most influential [research group] in recent political history".
Jane Suiter is an Irish political scientist, professor and director of Dublin City University's Institute for Future Media, Democracy, and Society ("FuJo") and research lead of Ireland's Constitutional Convention and the Citizens' Assembly. She is the co-author or co-editor of three academic books and one guide book, and over 40 journal articles. In December 2020, she was named "Researcher of the Year" by the Irish Research Council and in February 2021, she was promoted to the position of professor by DCU.
Federalism in the United Kingdom refers to the concept of constitutional reform, where there is a division of legislative powers between two or more levels of government, therefore sovereignty is non-centralised between a federal government and autonomous governments in a federal system.
The Institute of Welsh Affairs (IWA) is an independent charity and membership-based think-tank based Cardiff, Wales, which specialises in public policy and debate around the economy, education, environment and health sectors in Wales.
The United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed in December 2020. It is concerned with trade within the UK, as the UK is no longer subject to EU regulations. The act seeks to prevent internal trade barriers among the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom, and to restrict the way that certain legislative powers of the devolved administrations can operate in practice.
Nicola McEwen, FRSE is professor of territorial politics at the University of Edinburgh, co-director of the Centre on Constitutional Change, and senior fellow at the UK in a Changing Europe. She became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2021. She leads research on devolution and inter-institutional relations. She provides advice to governments and public bodies and gives media expert perspectives internationally. McEwen's research and insights are sought for public engagement and political or business briefings during major events like the 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum, and the Smith Commission, UK BREXIT and recent elections such as to the Scottish Parliament. She has a reputation for being authoritative and trustworthy in engaging with senior politicians, civil service and civic society and has regular media engagements on various topics. McEwen is consulted on aspects such as potential impact on welfare of Scottish independence, or informing parliament on the impact of BREXIT on intra-UK relations and communicating her findings and explanations to public media.
The hypothetical break up of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland following departure of Scotland is mentioned in media and think tanks with regard to potential Scottish independence. The union of the Kingdom of Scotland and Kingdom of England into the Kingdom of Great Britain was formed in 1707. The union of the Kingdom of Great Britain with the Kingdom of Ireland was formed in 1801, to establish the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Most of Ireland left in 1922, whereupon the UK became the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Welsh devolution is the transfer of legislative power for self-governance to Wales by the Government of the United Kingdom. Wales was conquered by England during the 13th century; the 1284 Statute of Rhuddlan caused Wales to lose its de facto independence and formed the constitutional basis for it as a principality in the "Realm of England". The Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542 applied English law to Wales and united the Principality and the Marches which effectively ended both and incorporated Wales into England. The Wales and Berwick Act 1746 defined "England" to include Wales until the Welsh Language Act 1967, which separated Wales from England within the sovereign state of the United Kingdom.
There have been various proposals for constitutional reform in the United Kingdom.
