Essay Labour Party Is the Party of Devolution

A secondary way in which parliamentary sovereignty in the UK can be seen to be moving is though the introduction of devolution which is challenging the UK parliament’s sovereignty. The UK is a unitary state, so only one body can in theory

In the UK there are three main regional assemblies in the country that have developed power: the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly and the Northern Ireland Assembly.

The Labour government of 1974-1979 also won two elections, the 1974 February election and the 1974 October election, however both were won by a minority. The February election was won by 4 seats and the October election was won by 42 seats. The reason for the slim win is to do with inflation. The Labour governments of 1974-1979 were in office at a bad time because Britain had started to suffer from huge inflation because of the oil price rise in 1973, and so voters didn’t have a clear decision on which they were going to vote for. This shows that at the moment the 1964-1970 Labour Government was more successful by far because of their majority of 110 seats in the 1966 election.

‘The main reason for conservative dominance in the years 1951 to 1964 was labour disunity’ Assess the validity of this view. (June 2011)

The reforms of Devolution where power was transferred from Westminster to different elected bodies around the country. This makes the UK more democratic as power is no longer centralised and areas such as parts of Scotland, Wales and Ireland will not be neglected. However England itself does not have its own assembly and the fact that we cannot vote on certain things in areas of the UK, but everyone can vote in policies in England could be seen to be undemocratic. Overall this reform however has made the UK more democratic as it means areas will not be forgotten about and countries and areas within the UK can get specific things that that area may want or need more then others.

Currently Scotland has its own parliament in Edinburgh which can deal with chosen devolved issues from Westminster. Originating mainly from the YES YES campaign in 1999 headed by the Labour Government. This means that Scotland has control over

But has the Conservative party actually abandoned Thatcherism? Considering the points displayed in this essay, I have come to the conclusion that Cameron’s ‘progressive’ party may not so adverse to Thatcherism at all. The most important issues over specific reforms raised by the current Conservative Government seem to be highly influenced by the ideas of Thatcher. What is essential to point out is that times have evolved since the Thatcher timeframe and the Conservatives have had to evolve along with these times and adapt their attitudes to gain support from the electorate who view the ‘Iron Lady’s’ concepts as out of date. As to any argument, there are two sides to the story; let us remember that Cameron’s Government has only had the chance

The centrepiece of Labour 's programme of constitutional reform was undoubtedly devolution. This was achieved with remarkably few problems. There now seems no likelihood that the new arrangements could be reversed, even by a Conservative administration. The election on 6 May 1999 of a Parliament in Scotland, with extensive powers of primary legislation as well as tax-raising, and an Assembly in Wales, with powers of secondary legislation only, will have a profound impact on governance within the UK. In

The dispersion of power in the UK varies greatly, each country having a different seat on the level-pegging of power over one another - in particular, policy areas, due to the various referendums, including ones already mentioned. This is called an asymmetrical devolution system.

Devolution is the transfer of powers from a central body to subordinate regional bodies. In Scotland, Devolution was set up to restore legitimacy to a system of government that reflected Scottish preferences. The reason behind the demand for Scottish self-government is that Scotland had the historic status of nationhood before the Union of 1707 and within the Union, has a different set of legal, educational and religious institutions that reinforce a Scottish identity.

The process of establishing devolution for Scotland began with the Scotland Act 1978, which made way for a referendum on devolution and attempted to gain more power and legislature abilities for Scotland. The rise of the SNP forced the Labour Government of James Callaghan to react. The terms of this Act stated 40% of the entire electorate had to vote “yes” for devolution and the establishment of a Scottish Assembly, this included those who did not vote which were counted as a “no” vote. The 1979 Referendum, on 1st March, saw a majority of 52% in favour of devolution, to 48% against. At first glance it appears Scotland was successful in its referendum, however only 32.9% of the electorate had joined the majority, meaning the 40% required to achieve devolution was not met. With this failure to achieve devolution, the SNP backed a Tory motion of no confidence in the Labour government which saw the 1979 election being called by just one vote. The 1979 election saw the rise of

With this definition the Labour party places itself at odds with the other parties, and especially the Conservative Party, which is associated with capitalism and privatization.

While the United Kingdom is considered a representative democracy it is arguable to how representative it is of everyone. It is highly unlikely that you would ever find an MP is Parliament who is from a lower class background with the majority of MPs coming from the middle and upper classes. This shows a problem with the UK’s system as not everyone is getting their voices heard in this regard. While it is possible for pressure groups to get their views heard by governments, they will ensure that pressure groups do not become so powerful they steal the government's legitimacy.

A legend like the United Kingdom is not simply created, it was foraged through hardships and tribulations in order to become an unstoppable force of nature. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica after many conquests by an Anglo-Saxon king, Ireland fell under English rule and formally joined Great Britain in 1800 with the Act of Union. Though Ireland later regained its independence in 1922 but two thirds of the country stayed apart of the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom who was no longer a "Kingdom" but now part of a growing monarchy has endured many throughout the years. According to FiveforThrity, “The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy, with a queen and a parliament that has two houses: The House of Lords and House of Commons.” FiveforThrity also states “Supreme legislative power is vested in parliament, which sits for five years unless dissolved sooner as well as the fact that The House of Lords was stripped of most of its power in 1911, and now its main function is to revise legislation.”

The concept of devolution was first introduced in 1998 in the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom is made up of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. Devolution can be defined as the process whereby the central authority delegates part of her powers to the local or regional authority to exercise on her behalf. In this case, the UK parliament, which is the central authority, transfers some of its powers to the local authorities which are the Scottish parliament, the Northern Ireland parliament, the London Assembly and the National Assembly for Wales.