Devolution: Diversity, Stability and Challenges to Labour

Abstract

After 1999 devolution in the United Kingdom reinforced the distinctiveness of the Scottish and Welsh political arenas. There were differences in party politics, public policy and constitutional priorities both between Scotland and Wales, and between them and UK-level politics. Simultaneously, voter surveys showed that devolution stabilised political loyalties to the UK. The question for 2005 was in what ways the politics of devolution would continue to reflect this diversity while coexisting with relatively stable territorial politics. In Northern Ireland devolution had sought to address more extreme differences between unionists and nationalists. Power-sharing devolution accepted them, while seeking to manage conflict and normalise governance. Although devolution was suspended in 2002, the UK government remained committed to its reintroduction once the parties could agree again to share power. In the meantime, continued debate helped to sustain lower levels of political violence. Here the question was whether there could be a restoration of devolution.¹