Devolution and coalition government
Why Devolution?
By the 1990s, Scotland and Wales had long-standing political identities distinct from England. The Scottish National Party (SNP) had grown steadily since the 1970s. Scotland had voted for a devolved assembly in a 1979 referendum but the result was invalidated by a rule requiring 40% of the total electorate to vote Yes. In Wales, a 1979 referendum rejected devolution outright. The issue remained unresolved for two decades.
Devolution returned to the agenda under Tony Blair’s Labour government. In September 1997 — just months after Labour’s landslide election victory — referendums were held in both Scotland and Wales. In Scotland, 74.3% voted Yes to a Parliament with tax-varying powers. In Wales, the result was 50.3% Yes — a majority of fewer than 7,000 votes out of 1.1 million cast. Both votes showed that devolution had genuine but uneven support.
In September 1997, Scotland voted 74.3% Yes to devolution (with a separate question on tax-varying powers); Wales voted 50.3% Yes — a majority of under 7,000 votes. Both Parliaments opened in 1999. Scotland gained primary legislative and limited tax-varying powers; Wales gained secondary legislative powers only (later expanded).
The Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly
The Scottish Parliament opened in May 1999 under First Minister Donald Dewar, with powers over health, education, justice and local government. It could vary income tax by up to 3p in the pound. The Welsh Assembly, later renamed the Senedd, had more limited powers initially — it could pass secondary legislation but not primary Acts in most areas. Over subsequent years, the Scotland Act 2012 and 2016 expanded Scottish powers significantly, and the Wales Act 2017 moved Wales towards a similar model.
Devolution was controversial. Unionists feared it would lead to the break-up of the United Kingdom. Supporters of devolution argued it made government more responsive to local needs and democratic in distant regions. The “West Lothian Question” — first posed in the 1970s — asked why Scottish MPs at Westminster could vote on English health or education matters when English MPs had no equivalent say over Scottish issues. It remained constitutionally unresolved.
In April 1998 the Good Friday Agreement ended three decades of conflict in Northern Ireland. It established a power-sharing executive in which unionist and nationalist parties governed together, a North-South Ministerial Council linking institutions in Northern Ireland and the Republic, and commitments to human rights and decommissioning of paramilitary weapons. Supported in a referendum by 71% of voters in Northern Ireland and 94% in the Republic, it was a significant extension of devolved governance and power-sharing.
The Agreement was the result of a long negotiation process, and its implementation was not straightforward — devolved government in Northern Ireland was suspended several times between 1999 and 2007 before a more stable arrangement was reached. It is significant in the context of this unit because it demonstrated that Westminster was willing to share power with regional institutions even in the most politically sensitive part of the United Kingdom.
The 2010 Coalition and Challenges of Coalition Government
The general election of May 2010 produced a hung Parliament — no party had an overall majority. The Conservatives, led by David Cameron, won 306 seats; Labour won 258; the Liberal Democrats won 57. After five days of negotiations, Cameron and Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg announced a formal coalition agreement, creating the first coalition government in Britain since the Second World War.
The coalition faced immediate challenges. The two parties had different priorities: the Conservatives wanted rapid deficit reduction; the Liberal Democrats had pledged to abolish student tuition fees. When the coalition raised fees to £9,000, the Liberal Democrat vote collapsed. Coalition governance required both parties to compromise — raising questions about whether voters could hold governments accountable when no manifesto was actually implemented. The Liberal Democrats lost 49 of their 57 seats in the 2015 election.
A hung Parliament occurs when no party wins an outright majority. The 2010 Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition was the first coalition government in Britain since the Second World War. It struggled with conflicting manifesto promises — especially tuition fees — and raised questions about democratic accountability when compromise means neither partner implements its electoral programme.
On 18 September 2014 Scotland held a referendum on independence. The SNP, led by Alex Salmond, campaigned for a Yes vote; the “Better Together” campaign (led by Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat politicians) campaigned for No. The result was 55.3% No, 44.7% Yes — on a turnout of 84.6%, the highest recorded in any UK election or referendum since universal suffrage.
These are the facts as recorded. The debate about Scottish independence involves deeply contested questions of national identity, economic viability, constitutional principle and democratic self-determination — questions on which this lesson takes no view. Presenting the referendum result and its context is not an endorsement of either position. The high turnout suggests that questions about where power should lie — the central theme of this 1,000-year unit — remained intensely relevant to people in 2014.