Ten years on from the Brexit referendum, this blog post analyses where relations stand between the UK and devolved governments on regulating the UK’s domestic market. Specifically, using Wales as a case study, it focuses on the legal and political … [Read more...] about The UK Internal Market Act: What it’s Meant for Devolution
In Wales a very different, values-led conversation on human rights has evolved over the last 15 years, one which exists in stark contrast to debates in England. Legislative initiatives such as the Rights of Children and Young Persons (Wales) … [Read more...] about Is it Time for a Welsh Human Rights Act?
Devolution was always described as a process and not an event. Well, the devolution journey has moved on to a new phase with the May elections in Scotland and Wales, with the result that three nationalist parties now hold power outside England. The … [Read more...] about What do the May Election Results Mean for Devolution?
The Senedd Cymru’s Member Accountability and Elections Bill, passed on 17 March 2026, introduces reforms to Senedd Member accountability and electoral integrity. However, by leaving much of the detail to future secondary legislation, it raises … [Read more...] about New Senedd Accountability Reforms: Political Lying and Constitutional Risk
Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. Politicians lying is the oldest ethical question in the book. In February, though, the Welsh Parliament’s Standards Committee recommended that political candidates who deliberately mislead the … [Read more...] about Truth, Lies, and Who Decides
The decision of the Labour Government to effectively close down NHS (England) came as a surprise to many. Although Wes Streeting, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, had indicated he wanted to curtail NHS(E), outright abolition was not … [Read more...] about NHS (England): The Death of the Government “Agency”?
Wales has a new First Minister: Eluned Morgan was confirmed in the role after a vote in the Senedd on 6 August 2024. She becomes the first woman to hold the position, and replaces Vaughan Gething after his resignation three weeks … [Read more...] about Wales’ new First Minister: A Time for Change?
In 2019 the Welsh Government published a document, Reforming our Union: Shared Governance in the UK. It reissued an updated version in 2021 in which the First Minister, Mark Drakeford, stated that: Too often we see the … [Read more...] about Welsh Devolution: The State of Intergovernmental Relations
In this blog I examine the formal mechanisms governing relations between the Senedd and the Welsh Government. I begin with a brief overview that explains how the Welsh institutions have developed since 1999. Then I consider developments in the most … [Read more...] about Inter-institutional partnership: the Senedd and the Welsh Government
Some believe that discussion of constitutional matters amounts to little more than a diversion from people’s real concerns, such as the cost-of-living crisis, jobs and the parlous state of the health service. However, it is misleading to suggest … [Read more...] about Constitutional change is unfinished business in the UK
With Nicola Sturgeon having recently addressed the Scottish Parliament about her plans for a second independence referendum, and the Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales, established by the Welsh Government, currently … [Read more...] about It is now necessary for the UK to move towards a UK-wide Constitutional Convention
The ongoing Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales should recognise the political and constitutional realities across all four nations of the UK when exploring the nature of the Union going forward. The fact that the four … [Read more...] about A new constitutional partnership for these isles
