At the constant behest (of my inexplicable mind), I have striven to find the find the inner workings of The United Kingdom after the devolution movement at the end of the last century. For the few of you that are interested, I will now reveal what information I have gleaned; although, I am sure that my translation will be wholly incorrect.
At the end of the nineties, referenda were held across three countries within the U.K.: Scotland, Wales and Ireland on a devolved parliament, assembly and The Good Friday Agreement. As present circumstance indicates, the answer was a "Yes" to all three. In Scotland it was a resounding 74.03%. In Ireland, a similarly high result was garnered, 71.12%. The Welsh vote, however, was far closer, with 50.3% a win of just 0.6%!
These votes caused a First Minister to rise up in Northern Ireland and Scotland and a First Secretary in Wales. Wales and Northern Ireland have Assemblies rather than a parliament, although the workings are much the same.
In setting out the devolved powers, Scotland was given 73 MSPs, Wales 60 Assembly Members and Northern Ireland 108. What is notable in this is that, for a least a small portion of these members, proportional representation is used. This was forced into place in Scotland and Wales by Liberal Democrats working with Labour, who was against it in both instances. Also of note, in the first set of elections in Scotland no constituency members from the Conservative Party were elected with FPTP yet 18 were with PR. In Wales eight were with PR and one with FPTP.
The allocation of power to Holyrood (Scotland's political base) was done so by detailing the powers retained by The U.K. Parliament whereas in Wales the powers given were listed. This was most probably done in this way as The Welsh Assembly, not having a distinct legal system, had less of an allocation of power than Scotland.
The Leaders of these political institutions are all required to obtain The Royal Assent (The Queen signs off on all legislation).
With the rise of devolved powers, it is no surprise that a very important question was asked, this, known as the "West Lothian Question", was asked by Scottish MP (not MSP) Tom Daylle. He asked why happenings in England should be decided on by the 119 MPs at Westminster not representing English constituencies. Rightly so. However, the issue is not so clear cut as it may seem. These 119 MPs sit at Westminster to represent their constituents in matters concerning The U.K. As such, these lovely Members of Parliament decided to not vote on any issue effecting solely England. Thus, a temporary solution.
As I grow tired, I will decease and desist. I will also ignore all the errors that this is riddled with.
All statistics are copied from "Devolution in Britain Today", a book which I have used, to some extent, to understand our great nation. I apologise for any mistakes and would be delighted to have them brought to my attention.
The title is a dig at myself for taking so long in educating myself in this area. Of course, any guesses as to its origins are pleasing with the standard prizes being offered. Au revoir.
Pygmalion
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