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Marius Guderjan

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When New Labour came to power in 1997, led by Prime Minister Tony Blair, it began to implement its campaign promises to decentralise political and legislative powers in the UK. Blair’s government adopted a pragmatic, “piecemeal” approach to devolution with little appetite for comprehensive reforms to integrate the Union. Over a quarter of a century since New Labour introduced the devolution settlement, the Labour party returned to power under Keir Starmer in July 2024 taking stock of the UK’s territorial development. The new Labour Government is particularly focused on reforming devolution in England, stating its aim to “reset the relationship with local government, to give the sector more autonomy and put councils on the road to recovery”, to “end micro-management, and move to a meaningful partnership between central and local government.”

Considering the remarkable journey devolution has taken and the challenges it has faced until today, this paper discusses the territorial allocation of political, legislative and fiscal authority in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It also explains the intergovernmental relations between UK and the devolved governments, which were essentially shaped by a combination of weak, informal arrangements, converging political agendas, and salient events, particularly the 2014 Scottish independence referendum and the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union (EU).