Devolution in the UK – UK in a changing Europe

As part of our Policy Landscape 2026 report, Nicola McEwen considers the state of the political debate and the immediate and long-term challenges that need to be confronted when it comes to devolution in the UK.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has made it his mission to “take power out of Westminster and carry it into every postcode in the country”. But it is not clear the ‘devolution revolution’ will extend beyond England’s borders.

Of course, one might think there is less need to progress devolution to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, because they already have far more autonomy from Westminster than English regions.  But Scotland and Wales are nations, not regions. And following the elections in May, the Prime Minister must now face three First Ministers from nationalist parties whose ultimate goal is political independence or, in the case of Sinn Fein’s Michelle O’Neil (whose responsibilities in office are shared with the DUP’s Deputy First Minister), to secure Irish unity.

Both the SNP and Plaid Cymru were elected on manifesto commitments to increase self-government. Both emerged triumphant in contests that witnessed Labour’s continued decline in Scotland and its decimation in Wales. Ignoring their calls for further powers whilst championing devolution in England risks destabilising the Union itself.

There have been long-standing calls, including from successive independent constitutional commissions, to devolve further competences to the Senedd, most notably over policing and justice. Plaid Cymru’s manifesto reiterated these calls, alongside the devolution of powers over the Crown Estate, rail, port regulation, Air Passenger Duty, social security and some aspects of energy policy.

The SNP manifesto called for the devolution of energy policy, employment law, further fiscal autonomy, a Scottish visa scheme, and legislative competence for an independence referendum. These calls have the backing of the Scottish Green Party, whose 15 MSPs join the 57 SNP MSPs in the largest pro-independence majority to date in the Scottish Parliament.

But the Westminster parliament is the legal custodian of the Scotland and Wales Acts and of the future of the Union. The Prime Minister has already informally rejected a second independence referendum. Neither he nor the Secretary of State for Scotland, Douglas Alexander – whose relationship with the Scottish Government can best be described as grim – have responded positively to the other devolution demands. Secretary of State for Wales, Stephen Kinnock, professed himself unconvinced of the need for further devolution, suggesting that devolution could destabilise policing and the Crown Estate.

Both the SNP and Plaid Cymru focused on the cost-of-living crisis in the May elections, reflecting voter priorities. Constitutional battles may thus be seen as an unwelcome distraction from an electorate who want their governments to work together to get things done. Nonetheless, championing devolution in England while snubbing calls for devolution in Scotland and Wales does not bode well for intergovernmental relations.

Labour entered office in 2024 with a commitment to respect devolution and ‘reset’ the UK government’s relationship with the devolved governments, following a deterioration of intergovernmental relations under the Conservatives against the backdrop of Brexit.

This included bringing forward a statutory review of the 2020 UK Internal Market Act, legislation enacted despite considerable opposition from, and without the consent of, the devolved legislatures. The Act was intended to facilitate frictionless trade across the UK after Brexit. Exclusions from its ‘Market Access Principles’ can be sought, without guarantee of being granted, bringing complexity and uncertainty to the legislative process. Without such exclusions, some rules drawn up by devolved governments would not apply to goods and services from other parts of the UK, making it more difficult to realise policy goals. The Act also allowed the UK government to spend directly in devolved policy areas, bypassing the established system of territorial finance and often bypassing the devolved governments. The statutory review committed to environmental and public health benefits being evaluated alongside the economic costs of regulatory divergence in weighing up exclusion requests. But this is unfinished business for the devolved institutions, and there remains a lack of clarity about how, and by whom, these additional criteria will be considered.

The Labour government also promised to restore the Sewel convention – the process of securing consent from the devolved legislatures before enacting legislation in the Westminster Parliament on devolved matters. Long a pragmatic tool for coordinating legislation across governments, this was an important symbol of the authority of the devolved institutions within a constitutional framework otherwise founded upon the undiluted sovereignty of the Westminster parliament. But that symbolism was somewhat undermined during the Brexit process when withheld consent was largely ignored by the UK parliament. It was further undermined when the UK Supreme Court confirmed that the Sewel Convention, which was written into the Scotland and Wales Acts, has no legal effect.

These outstanding issues should be in the Prime Minister’s in-tray. If not, he will surely confront them in intergovernmental forums. Meaningful discussions over further devolution to Scotland and Wales may also be hard to dismiss while championing devolution in England. Such discussions may come with pressure on devolved governments to devolve powers to Scottish and Welsh regions, but devolution within Scotland, Wales or indeed Northern Ireland would ultimately be a matter for the devolved institutions themselves. Over the longer term, simply rejecting calls for an independence referendum may not be enough, especially if support for independence increases. There is an opportunity now to consider, dispassionately, what would constitute and trigger a legitimate process for determining the future of these islands.

The Prime Minister is undoubtedly committed to devolution. He may well prove to have a transformative impact on the governance of England. But to be an effective Prime Minister of the United Kingdom requires understanding and carefully managing the complex set of territorial relationships and identities between the nations of these islands.

By Nicola McEwen, Professor of Public Policy and Governance, University of Glasgow Centre for Public Policy.