Devolution in the United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, devolution (Scottish Gaelic: fèin-riaghlaidh, Welsh: datganoli) refers to the statutory granting of powers from the Parliament of the United Kingdom to the Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales, the Northern Ireland Assembly and the London Assembly and to their associated executive bodies the Scottish Government, the Welsh Government, the Northern Ireland Executive and in England, the Greater London Authority and Combined authorities.

Devolution differs from federalism in that the devolved powers of the subnational authority ultimately reside in central government, thus the state remains, de jure, a unitary state. Legislation creating devolved parliaments or assemblies can be repealed or amended by central government in the same way as any statute.

The issue of Irish home rule was the dominant political question of British politics at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century.

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