Devolved Government in the United Kingdom
The British Parliament has devolved certain, restricted powers to subdivisions of the United Kingdom. This is often known as home rule.
This power sharing is complex and dynamic; there is practically no constitutional law or institutional power protecting the devolved governments from being re-centralized.
Contents
Scotland
TODO: learn some government!
Wales
TODO: learn some government!
Northern Ireland
The modern devolved government in Northern Ireland was established by the Belfast Agreement in 1998. This government is composed of the Northern Ireland Executive and the Northern Ireland Assembly.
The assembly is composed of 90 members and is led by a speaker, a principal deputy speaker, and two deputy speakers. Members of the assembly mandatorily self-identify as either a unionist or a nationalist; any member that refuses is separated into an 'other' category. For the election of a speaker from their body, as well as any vote for which 30 members petition (i.e., a petition of concern), a passing vote requires a majority of both unionists and nationalists (i.e., a cross-community vote).
The executive is composed of ministers elected from the body of the assembly and is led by a first minister and a deputy first minister with co-equal powers. (The qualifier 'deputy' simply indicates that they are appointed from the second-largest party in the assembly.) The justice minister particularly is elected by another cross-community vote. Furthermore, the requirement that the first minister and deputy first minister be from different parties effectively makes the initial appointment of an executive into a cross-community vote.
Due to these high barriers, there have been significant periods wherein no devolved government can be formed (e.g., 2002 - 2007), and the British Parliament serves as the national legislature.
Regional authorities
The Greater London Authority was established on July 3rd, 2000.
Regional combined authorities have been established in:
Name |
Established |
Greater Manchester Combined Authority |
April 1st, 2011 |
Liverpool City Region Combined Authority |
April 1st, 2014 |
South Yorkshire Combined Authority |
April 1st, 2014 |
West Yorkshire Combined Authority |
April 1st, 2014 |
North East Combined Authority |
April 15th, 2014 |
Tees Valley Combined Authority |
April 1st, 2016 |
West Midlands Combined Authority |
June 16th, 2014 |
West of England Combined Authority |
February 9th, 2017 |
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority |
March 2nd, 2017 |
North of Tyne Combined Authority |
November 2, 2018 |