Politics of England

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A Mediaeval manuscript, showing the Parliament of England in front of the king c. 1300

The Politics of England form part of the wider politics of the United Kingdom, with England one of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom.

Ever since the Acts of Union, in 1707, England has not had its own independent government or political system. Prior to the Acts of Union 1707, England was ruled by a monarch and the Parliament of England.

Because England is essentially the historical core of the UK, and also by far the largest constituent part in population and area, its relationship to the UK is somewhat different to that of Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. The UK capital London is also the capital of England, and English is the dominant language of the UK as well (not officially, but de facto).

1 Post-devolution
2 English political parties
3 Regionalism
4 See also

[edit] Post-devolution

Since Scotland and Wales voted for devolved administrations in referendums in 1997, there have been numerous debates about England's position within the United Kingdom (see West Lothian question, devolved English Parliament and English nationalism). London has had a degree of devolution dating from about the same time in the form of the London Assembly. The Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey have been devolved for far longer, and though associated with England for some purposes, are neither technically in the United Kingdom, nor part of England.

The Scottish and Welsh governing institutions were created by the UK parliament along with strong support from the majority of people of Scotland and Wales, and are not yet independent of the rest of Britain. However, this gave each country a separate and distinct political identity, leaving England (83% of the UK population) as the only part of Britain directly ruled in nearly all matters by the British government in London.

While Scotland and Northern Ireland have always had separate legal systems to England, this has not been the case with Wales (see Scots law, Northern Ireland law, English law and Welsh law respectively). However, laws concerning the Welsh language, and also the National Assembly for Wales, have created differences between the law in Wales, and the law in England, as they apply in Wales and not in England.

Regarding parliamentary matters, a long-standing anomaly called the West Lothian question has come to the fore. Before Scottish devolution, purely-Scottish matters were debated at Westminster, but subject to a convention that only Scottish MPs could vote on them. The "Question" was that there was no "reverse" convention: Scottish MPs could and did vote on issues relating only to England and Wales. Welsh devolution has removed the anomaly for Wales, but not for England: Scottish and Welsh MPs can vote on English issues, but Scottish and Welsh issues are not debated at Westminster at all. This problem is exacerbated by an over-representation of Scottish MPs in the government, sometimes referred to as the Scottish mafia; as of September 2006, seven of the twenty-three Cabinet members are Scottish, including the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Home Secretary and Defence Secretary.

[edit] English political parties

Most English parties tend to give themselves a British name, even if they do not operate outside England. Most of the parties that operate within England alone, tend to be either minor parties incapable of contesting many constituencies, or parties purely interested in English issues or regionalism, such as the English Democrats Party. However, the Conservative Party have recently adopted a policy of English Votes on English Legislation (EVoEL), a policy that is considered by many as fatally flawed. The Conservative policy of EVoEL aims to prevent MP's with constituencies outside of England from voting on legislation that only affects England. There is a significant element within the Conservative Party that supports full devolution for England with the establishment of an English Parliament and Executive along the lines of that given to Scotland.

There are calls for a devolved English Parliament, and some English people and parties go further by calling for the dissolution of the Union entirely. However, the approach favoured by the current Labour government was (on the basis that England is too large to be governed as a single sub-state entity) to propose the devolution of power to the Regions of England. Lord Falconer claimed a devolved English parliament would dwarf the rest of the United Kingdom.^{[citation needed]} Referendums would decide whether people wanted to vote for regional assemblies to watch over the work of the non-elected RDAs.

[edit] Regionalism

Various regionalist organisations exist, mainly dedicated to gaining home rule. A referendum held on home rule for North East England in 2004, backed by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, failed to deliver a "yes" vote. Similar referenda had been planned in North West England and Yorkshire and the Humber. These were postponed on 22 July due to issues with all-postal ballots - there were many allegations of fraud and procedural irregularities^{[citation needed]}. Following the rejection of the proposal in the north east of England, Prescott ruled out holding further referenda in other regions for the foreseeable future. Yorkshire has one of the strongest regional movements^{[citation needed]}.

The government has, however, continued to push its regionalisation agenda, and the unelected Regional Assemblies are still in operation, including in the north east of England where the government's proposal was resoundingly rejected. Calls for the Assemblies to be discontinued have been ignored. For further information see Regional Assemblies in England

Cornwall's status is particularly controversial in regard to England, with some regarding it as a county, and some regarding it as something quite different. For more information on this matter, please see the articles Cornish self-government movement and constitutional status of Cornwall. One particular issue of the Cornish campaign is its rejection of a South West England assembly with Devon and Somerset.

A much smaller movement than Cornwall's also exists in the Isle of Wight, where the Vectis National Party and the Isle of Wight Party have both attempted to "disconnect" England from the island.

The status of Berwick, north of the River Tweed is controversial , especially amongst Scottish nationalists [1]. Berwick remained a county in its own right until 1885, when it was included in Northumberland for Parliamentary purposes.