Governance of England

The UK since then has gone through significant change to its system of government, with devolved parliaments, assemblies and governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. England, however, remains under the full jurisdiction of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the UK government as no devolved administration has been created for England within the new structure.

This situation led to the anomaly, known as the West Lothian question, which is that Scottish Members of Parliament (MPs) have been able to vote on legislation that affects only England whereas English MPs have been unable to vote on certain Scottish matters due to devolution. In some cases, such as top-up university tuition fees and foundation hospitals, the votes of Scottish MPs have been crucial in helping pass legislation for England that the majority of English MPs have opposed.^{[citation needed]} An attempt was made to address this anomaly in 2015 through the use of an English votes for English laws procedure which aimed to ensure that legislation affecting only England required a majority vote of MPs representing English constituencies.

Another possible solution to the West Lothian question would have been devolution to the English regions but attempts have been unsuccessful so far. Among the parts of England, Greater London has a degree of devolved power (although weaker than that of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) with power vested in a Greater London Authority.

England is officially divided as follows for administrative purposes:

• The nine English regions,
• The modern day local authority areas,
• The geographical/ceremonial counties of England.

As of 2024, there are no plans to create a devolved English parliament and corresponding English executive.

The UK Parliament retains the following legislative competencies in relation to England, which are exercised by devolved legislatures in the rest of the United Kingdom:^[2]

• Agriculture
• Culture
• Education
• Environment
• Health (including social care)
• Housing
• Local government
• Road transport (including buses, cycling and local transport)
• Sport
• Tourism^[3][4][5][6]

Prior to 1999, the Scottish Office, Welsh Office and Northern Ireland Office, exercised a wide range of government functions in their respective nations. After devolved administrations were established, secretaries of state for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland remained in place to represent the interests of people in the devolved nations at UK Cabinet level and to act as a conduit between central government and the devolved administrations. England however remains under the responsibility of several subject-specific government departments, many with broader UK-wide roles. There is no cabinet level secretary whose remit is to represent England as a whole.

Several ministerial departments of the UK government, as well as non-ministerial departments, executive agencies, and non-departmental public bodies, have responsibilities that apply only to England.^[7]

Unlike Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, which have had their own devolved legislatures since the late 1990s, England remains under the full jurisdiction of the United Kingdom parliament based in Westminster. In the 2024 general election, 543 of the 650 MPs were elected from constituencies in England.

Some mechanisms exist within the UK parliament to allow members elected from constituencies elected in England to discuss issues relating to the nation as a whole or to specific regions of England.

The Regional Affairs Committee was established in 2000. It has 13 members, however any MP from a constituency in England may attend and participate in its procedures effectively making it a de facto English grand committee. The standing order establishing the Regional Affairs Committee remains in force, however the committee last met in 2004 and no appointments have been made to it since 2005.^[8]

Eight Regional Grand Committees and Regional Select Committees existed between 2008 and 2010 for the eight regions of England outside Greater London.^[9]

England is the only country of the United Kingdom to not have a devolved national legislature or government and English affairs are decided by the UK Parliament and UK central government. In the late 1990s a campaign was started to establish a Devolved English Parliament similar to that established in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.^[17][18]

There have been proposals for the establishment of a single devolved English parliament to govern the affairs of England as a whole. This has been supported by groups such as English Commonwealth, the English Democrats, and Campaign for an English Parliament, as well as the Scottish National Party and Plaid Cymru who have both expressed support for greater autonomy for all four nations while ultimately striving for a dissolution of the Union. Without its own devolved Parliament, England continues to be governed and legislated for by the UK Government and UK Parliament, which gives rise to the West Lothian question. The question concerns the fact that, on devolved matters, Scottish MPs continue to help make laws that apply to England alone, although no English MPs can make laws on those same matters for Scotland. Since the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, there has been a wider debate about the UK adopting a federal system with each of the four Home Nations having its own equal devolved legislature and law-making powers.^[19]

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 per cent.^[20] While a 2007 opinion poll found that 61 per cent would support such a parliament being established,^[21] a report based on the British Social Attitudes Survey published in December 2010 suggests that only 29 per cent of people in England support the establishment of an English parliament, though this figure has risen from 17 per cent in 2007.^[22] John Curtice argues that tentative signs of increased support for an English parliament might represent "a form of English nationalism ... beginning to emerge among the general public".^[23] Krishan Kumar, however, notes that support for measures to ensure that only English MPs can vote on legislation that applies only to England is generally higher than that for the establishment of an English parliament, although support for both varies depending on the timing of the opinion poll and the wording of the question.^[24]

In September 2011 it was announced that the British government was to set up a commission to examine the West Lothian question.^[25] In January 2012 it was announced that this six-member commission would be named the Commission on the consequences of devolution for the House of Commons, would be chaired by former Clerk of the House of Commons, Sir William McKay, and would have one member from each of the devolved countries. The McKay Commission reported in March 2013.^[26]

• Government in Anglo-Saxon England
• Government in Norman and Angevin England
• Government in late medieval England
• Elizabethan government

• Politics of England
• International relations of England
• List of parliaments of England
• The Difference between an Absolute and Limited Monarchy, a 14th century English constitutional work