The legislatures of the United Kingdom are derived from a number of different sources. The parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body for the United Kingdom and the British overseas territories with Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland each having their own devolved legislatures. Each of the three major jurisdictions of the United Kingdom has its own laws and legal system.
The Senedd, officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and Senedd Cymru in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, it makes laws for Wales, agrees certain taxes and scrutinises the Welsh Government. It is a bilingual institution, with both Welsh and English being the official languages of its business. From its creation in May 1999 until May 2020, the Senedd was known as the National Assembly for Wales.
A legislative consent motion is a motion passed by either the Scottish Parliament, Senedd, or Northern Ireland Assembly, in which it consents that the Parliament of the United Kingdom may pass legislation on a devolved issue over which the devolved government has regular legislative authority.
The Welsh Government is the devolved government of Wales. The government consists of ministers and deputy ministers, and also of a counsel general. Ministers only attend the Cabinet Meetings of the Welsh Government. It is led by the first minister, usually the leader of the largest party in the Senedd, who selects ministers and deputy ministers with the approval of the Senedd. The government is responsible for tabling policy in devolved areas for consideration by the Senedd and implementing policy that has been approved by it.
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).
Welsh Labour is the branch of the United Kingdom Labour Party in Wales and the largest party in modern Welsh politics. Welsh Labour and its forebears won a plurality of the Welsh vote at every UK general election since 1922, Senedd election since 1999, and European Parliament election in 1979–2004 and 2014. Welsh Labour holds 22 of the 40 Welsh seats in the UK Parliament, 30 of the 60 seats in the Welsh Senedd and 576 of the 1,264 councillors in principal local authorities, including overall control of 10 of the 22 principal local authorities.
There are four types of elections in Wales: elections to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, elections to the devolved Senedd, local elections to the 22 principal areas, and the Police and Crime Commissioner elections, in addition to by-elections for each aforementioned election. Elections are held on Election Day, which is conventionally a Thursday. Since the passing of the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 for UK general elections, all four types of elections are held after fixed periods, though early elections to the UK parliament can occur in certain situations, with Senedd elections being postponed to avoid elections to the UK parliament and Senedd coinciding with each other.
Welsh law is an autonomous part of the English law system composed of legislation made by the Senedd. Wales is part of the legal jurisdiction of England and Wales, one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. However, due to devolution, the law in Wales is increasingly distinct from the law in England, since the Senedd, the devolved parliament of Wales, can legislate on non-reserved matters.
Welsh independence is the political movement advocating for Wales to become a sovereign state, independent from the United Kingdom.
The Counsel General for Wales is the Welsh Government's Law Officer, which means the government's chief legal adviser and representative in the courts. In addition to these "lawyer" roles the Counsel General also works to uphold the rule of law and integrity of the legal community in Wales, and has a number of important specific statutory functions, some of which are to be exercised independently of government and in the public interest.
In many countries, a statutory instrument is a form of delegated legislation.
An Act of Senedd Cymru, or informally an Act of the Senedd, is primary legislation that can be made by the Senedd under part 4 of the Government of Wales Act 2006. Prior to 6 May 2020 any legislation was formally known as an Act of the National Assembly for Wales or informally, an Act of the Assembly.
Rhianon Passmore is a Welsh Labour and Co-operative politician. Since May 2016, she has been the Member of the Senedd for Islwyn.
The European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that provides both for repeal of the European Communities Act 1972, and for parliamentary approval to be required for any withdrawal agreement negotiated between the Government of the United Kingdom and the European Union. The bill's passage through both Houses of Parliament was completed on 20 June 2018 and it became law by Royal Assent on 26 June.
Welsh devolution is the transfer of legislative power for self-governance to Wales by the Government of the United Kingdom.
The 2022–2023 United Kingdom railway strikes are an ongoing industrial dispute in the United Kingdom that has seen the largest instance of industrial action in the country since 1989. It commenced on 21 June after members of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) walked out over wages and planned changes to working practices – involving the removal of guards from trains, the reduction in the number of open ticket offices, and an increase in the age at which people could claim the young persons and senior citizen card – and the threat of redundancies. The strike followed the collapse of discussions between the RMT and several rail companies, and involved around 40,000 rail workers from Network Rail and 13 train operators; they were also joined by staff from London Underground who staged a 24-hour strike on 21 June. Disruption affected the entire railway network of Great Britain, with staff of the main train operators in Scotland and Wales, who were not part of the strike, also disrupted as the trains were unable to operate on Network Rail infrastructure. The strike did not impact Northern Ireland.
A referendum on Welsh independence from the United Kingdom (UK) has been proposed by pro-independence supporters, including independence campaign group YesCymru, political parties Plaid Cymru and Wales Green Party and other groups and individuals.
The Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses (Amendment) Regulations 2022 is a statutory instrument of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The regulations removed Regulation 7 of the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003, which prevented employment agencies from supplying agency workers to employers to replace workers taking part in official industrial action.
The Welsh Tax Acts etc. Act 2022 is an Act of Senedd Cymru which allows Welsh ministers to amend tax law using regulatory powers. The Tax Acts in question are the Tax Collection and Management (Wales) Act 2016, the Land Transaction Tax and Anti-avoidance of Devolved Taxes (Wales) Act 2017, and the Landfill Disposals Tax (Wales) Act 2017.
The Strikes Bill 2023 is a proposed Act of Parliament affecting UK labour law designed to force trade union workers in England, Scotland and Wales to provide a minimum service during a strike in health, education services, fire and rescue, border security and nuclear decommissioning. The proposal has been criticised as being not in the 2019 Conservative Party Manifesto, being a violation of human rights, and being a violation of international law.
