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UK General Elections in England |
Adevolved English parliament is a proposed institution that would give separate decision-making powers to representatives for voters in England, similar to the representation given by theSenedd (Welsh Parliament), theScottish Parliament and theNorthern Ireland Assembly. A devolved English parliament is an issue in thepolitics of the United Kingdom.
Public opinion surveys have resulted in widely differing conclusions on public support for the establishment of a devolved English parliament.
The future prospects of a devolved English Parliament have been raised in relation to the West Lothian question, which came to the fore afterdevolutionary changes to British parliaments. Before 1998, all political issues, even when only concerning parts of the United Kingdom, were decided by theBritish Parliament atWestminster. After separate regional parliaments or assemblies were introduced inScotland,Wales, andNorthern Ireland in 1998, issues concerning only these parts of the United Kingdom were often decided by the respective devolved assemblies, while purely English issues were decided by the entire British Parliament, with MPs from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland fully participating in debating and voting. The establishment of a devolved English parliament, giving separate decision-making powers to representatives for voters in England, has thus become an issue in British politics.
The political parties which are campaigning for an English Parliament are theEnglish Democrats, and theUK Independence Party (UKIP). Since 1997, theCampaign for an English Parliament (CEP) has been campaigning for areferendum on an English Parliament. Despite institutional opposition in Westminster to a Parliament for England, the CEP has had some success in bringing the issue to people's attention, particularly in political and academic circles.[citation needed]
Duringgeneral elections, all of thesingle-member constituencies (seats) that constitute the UK Parliament are subject to separate, simultaneous contests, between several candidates. While these constituencies span the entire UK geographically, because of the way that thepopulation of the UK is distributed – i. e. the population of England is greater than that of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales combined – the 533 MPs from English constituencies represent a majority within theHouse of Commons. Nevertheless, there are often occasions when the votes of MPs from non-English constituencies have proved to be decisive with regard to England-specific legislation (regarding matters that are devolved outside England).[citation needed] (Examples of this phenomenon since devolution include issues with such asfoundation hospitals,top-up fees and runways atHeathrow.) To a limited extent, theScotland Act 1998 has reduced the potential for non-English MPs to form decisive regional blocs – that is, Section 81 of the Act abolished the previous system ofapportionment, under which Scottish constituencies required a smaller electoral quota and Scotland was over-represented, relative to the other components of the UK; England now provides more MPsper capita than Scotland.[citation needed]
Surveys of public opinion on the establishment of an English parliament have given widely varying conclusions. In the first five years of devolution for Scotland and Wales, support in England for the establishment of an English parliament was low at between 16 and 19 %, according to successiveBritish Social Attitudes Surveys.[1] A report, also based on the British Social Attitudes Survey, published in December 2010 suggests that only 29 % of people in England support the establishment of an English parliament, though this figure had risen from 17 % in 2007.[2]One 2007 poll carried out forBBCNewsnight, however, found that 61 % would support such a parliament being established.[3]
In January 2012,Simon Hughes, the deputy leader of theLiberal Democrats, supported calls for a devolved English parliament.[4] While the Conservatives were in government from 2010 to 2015 in coalition with the Liberal Democrats, the coalition government approved the creation of theMcKay Commission to look into the question. The Commission proposed that bills in the House of Commons which affected England solely or differently should require a majority vote of MPs representing English constituencies, a system known asEnglish votes for English laws (EVEL).[5]
The Labour Party opposed the idea, arguing that this creates two classes of MPs in the House of Commons, and that a regional approach should be taken, in the form of regional English devolution.[citation needed] However, in July 2015, then Shadow Secretary of State for Business,Chuka Umunna, suggested that the Labour Party should support the creation of a separate English parliament as part of afederal United Kingdom. He also called for a federal structure to the Labour Party with the creation of a distinct English Labour Party.[6]
The Conservative Party manifesto for the2015 general election included a proposal that England-only legislation should require approval from aLegislative Grand Committee prior to its Third Reading in the House of Commons.[7] Having won a majority in that election, the Conservative government used a change instanding orders in October 2015 to give MPs representing English constituencies a "veto" over laws only affecting England.[8] EVEL was scrapped in July 2021.[9]
In October 2021, a poll by Public First found that 62% of English voters would vote for an English Parliament. Furthermore, an even bigger majority of 'English identifiers' – 72% – want laws that only apply in England to be made by MPs elected in England, whilst 64% of all English voters, including 'British identifiers', thought the same.[10]
In 2002, former prime ministerGordon Brown proposed the establishment of a "Council of England" which would be chaired by the prime minister and would include leaders ofcombined authorities, theMayor of London, representatives oflocal government and other stakeholders in England.[11] The proposed council would be similar to theCouncil for Wales which existed between 1949 and 1966. In 2024, the new Labour government established an England only forum known as theMayoral Council for England to bring together ministers from the UK government, the Mayor of London and Mayors of England's Combined Authorities.[12] As the Labour government hopes that combined authorities will be established throughout England, the Mayoral Council would eventually evolve into an all England forum.[13] As of October 2024, 48% of the population and 26% of the land area of England is represented on the Mayoral Council.[14]
Several groups are working to raise this issue of a devolved English parliament, including theCampaign for an English Parliament, the English Constitutional Convention and English Commonwealth. TheEnglish Democrats also support the creation of an English parliament. Electoral support for English nationalist parties is low, however, even though there is public support for many of the policies they espouse.[15] The English Democrats gained just 64,826 votes in the2010 UK general election, accounting for 0.3 % of all votes cast in England.[16]
A 2007 poll of 1,953 people throughout Great Britain carried out forBBCNewsnight, found 61 % support among theEnglish for a parliament of their own, with 51 % ofScots and 48 % ofWelsh people favouring the same.[17][18] An earlierICM poll of 869 English people in November 2006 produced a slightly higher majority of 68 % backing the establishment of such a body.[19][20][21][22]
A 2014 poll by Cardiff and Edinburgh universities found that 54% of English people surveyed agreed with a devolved parliament, while 20% neither agreed nor disagreed, 15% disagreed, and 10% were undecided.[23]
Polling data for English devolution, English votes for English laws and independence may be found in the table below.
Note: Responses with the plurality of the vote are outlined in bold and are coloured in, those with at least 50% of the vote have more saturated colours.
| Date | Independence | Status quo | English parliament | English votes for English laws | Regional assemblies | End devolution | Don't know /none |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13/01/12[24] | N/A | 16% | 49% | N/A | N/A | N/A | 35% |
| 06/12/11[25] | N/A | 21% | 52% | N/A | N/A | 14% | 13% |
| 15/04/10[26] | N/A | 20% | 68% | N/A | N/A | N/A | 12% |
| 30/04/09[27] | N/A | 15% | 41% | N/A | N/A | N/A | 44% |
| 09/09/09[28] | N/A | 20% | 58% | N/A | N/A | N/A | 22% |
| 06/12/07[29] | 15% | 32% | 20% | 25% | N/A | N/A | 8% |
| 19/04/07[30] | N/A | 24.25% | 67.32% | N/A | N/A | N/A | 8.43% |
| 05/04/07[31] | N/A | 12% | 21% | 51% | N/A | N/A | 16% |
| 08/01/07[32] | N/A | 32% | 61% | N/A | N/A | N/A | 7% |
| 07/01/07[33] | N/A | 41.22% | 51.42% | N/A | N/A | N/A | 7.36% |
| 23/11/06[34] | N/A | 25.35% | 68.43% | N/A | N/A | N/A | 6.22% |
| 08/07/06[35] | N/A | 32% | 41% | N/A | 14% | N/A | 13% |
| 23/02/06[36] | N/A | 23.76% | 11.88% | 46.53% | 10.89% | N/A | 6.93% |
| 07/04/02[37] | N/A | N/A | 47% | N/A | 28% | N/A | 25% |
The British Social Attitudes surveys have collated data on the question of English devolution since 1999, it has given participants three options.[38]
Note: Responses with the plurality of the vote are outlined in bold and are coloured in, those with at least 50% of the vote have more saturated colours.
| Date | Governed as it is now | England to have its own Parliament | Each region to have its own assembly |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 55% | 22% | 20% |
| 2018 | 52% | 22% | 18% |
| 2015 | 50% | 20% | 23% |
| 2013 | 56% | 19% | 15% |
| 2012 | 56% | 22% | 15% |
| 2011 | 56% | 25% | 12% |
| 2010 | 53% | 23% | 13% |
| 2009 | 49% | 29% | 15% |
| 2008 | 51% | 26% | 15% |
| 2007 | 57% | 17% | 14% |
| 2006 | 54% | 21% | 18% |
| 2005 | 54% | 18% | 20% |
| 2004 | 53% | 21% | 21% |
| 2003 | 56% | 18% | 26% |
| 2002 | 56% | 17% | 20% |
| 2001 | 57% | 16% | 23% |
| 2000 | 54% | 19% | 18% |
| 1999 | 62% | 18% | 15% |
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