Abstract
This chapter offers an in-depth look at views held by people in England to a range of governance proposals. The chapter analyses how people in England view several distinct proposals, investigating whether there are differences between particular groups of people. It goes on to consider whether people have a favoured option and whether that option differs across different groups. In addition to exploring preference for governance options, the chapter presents findings on people’s preferred mechanism of making change. The chapter reveals a public open to multiple options for reforming the way that England is governed.
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- 1.
The Speaker has the duty to certify whether the content of bills is England – or England and Wales – only and to specify the correct procedure at each stage of a bill’s passage. The changes are discussed in Richard Kelly, ‘English Votes for English Laws’, House of Commons Library Briefing Paper, No. 7339, 2 December 2015, at http://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/CBP-7339#fullreport (accessed 14 November 2016) (Kelly 2015); see also Michael Kenny and Daniel Gover, ‘The Triumph of EVEL: What Next for the English Question?’, The Constitution Unit blog, 23 October 2015, at https://constitution-unit.com/2015/10/23/the-triumph-of-evel-what-next-for-the-english-question/ (accessed 14 November 2016) (Kenny and Gover 2015).
- 2.
Charlie Jeffery, Ailsa Henderson, Roger Scully and Richard Wyn Jones, ‘England’s Dissatisfactions and the Conservative Dilemma’, Political Studies Review, 14:3 (2016), pp. 335–348 (Jeffery and Henderson 2016).
- 3.
For the most comprehensive discussion of the English Question, see Michael Kenny, The Politics of English Nationhood (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014) (Kenny 2014).
- 4.
See Richard Wyn Jones, Guy Lodge, Charlie Jeffery, Glenn Gottfried, Roger Scully, Ailsa Henderson and Dan Wincott, England and its Two Unions: The Anatomy of a Nation and its Discontents: The 2012 Future of England Survey (London: IPPR, 2013) (Wyn Jones et al. 2013); Jeffery et al.. ‘England’s Dissatisfactions’.
- 5.
Jeffery et al., ‘England’s Dissatisfactions’, p. 335.
- 6.
Jeffery et al., ‘England’s Dissatisfactions’, p. 335.
- 7.
Rachel Ormston and John Curtice, in 2010, remarked that English public opinion ‘consistently expresses some disquiet at the apparent inequity of the West Lothian Question’. See Ormston and Curtice, ‘Resentment or Contentment? Attitudes towards the Union 10 Years on’, in Alison Park, John Curtice, Elizabeth Clery and Caroline Bryson, British Social Attitudes: The 27th Report – Exploring Labour’s Legacy (London: SAGE), p. 156 (Ormston and Curtice).
- 8.
Andy Mycock and Richard Hayton, ‘The Party Politics of Englishness’, British Journal of Politics & International Relations, 16:2 (2012), pp. 251–272 (Mycock and Hayton 2012); see Conservative Democracy Taskforce, Answering the Question: Devolution, the West Lothian Question and the Future of the Union (London: Conservative Party, 2009) (Conservative Democracy Taskforce 2009).
- 9.
Michael Kenny, ‘Englishness Politicised?: Unpicking the Normative Implications of the McKay Commission’, British Journal of Politics & International Relations, 17:1 (2015), p. 157 (Kenny 2015).
- 10.
Jeffery et al., ‘England’s Dissatisfactions’, p. 339.
- 11.
Kenny, ‘Englishness Politicised’, p. 153.
- 12.
- 13.
Charlie Jeffery, ‘Where does the Labour Party Stand on English Votes for English Laws?’, The New Statesman, 15 January 2015, at http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2015/01/where-does-labour-party-stand-english-votes-english-laws (accessed 14 November 2016) (Jeffery 2015).
- 14.
Kenny, ‘Englishness Politicised’, pp. 165–167.
- 15.
Jeffery et al., ‘England’s Dissatisfactions’, p. 339.
- 16.
Jeffery et al., ‘England’s Dissatisfactions’, p. 340.
- 17.
Preamble wording: ‘Several propositions have been put forward about how England should best be governed that some people favour, while others object to them. Please consider the following propositions and for each of them say whether you agree, disagree or neither agree nor disagree with them.’
- 18.
Wording: ‘Laws for England should only be made by Members of the UK Parliament representing English constituencies. Do you agree with this suggestion, neither agree nor disagree, or disagree with this suggestion?’
- 19.
Wording: ‘Some political decision making for England should take place at a regional level rather than centrally in the UK Parliament. For this purpose elected regional assemblies should be created. Do you agree with this suggestion, neither agree nor disagree, or disagree with this suggestion?’
- 20.
Wording: ‘Large city regions in England should have more autonomy to take decisions on certain matters affecting their respective city region. To achieve this more powers should be given to councils in city regions. Do you agree with this suggestion, neither agree nor disagree, or disagree with this suggestion?’
- 21.
Question wording: ‘Which political party, if any at all, do you feel closest to?’
- 22.
Kenny, Politics of English Nationhood, pp. 198–200; Richard Hayton, ‘The UK Independence Party and the Politics of Englishness’, Political Studies Review, 14:3 (2016), pp. 400–410 (Hayton 2016); for a comprehensive discussion of the rise of UKIP and the reasons for it see Robert Ford and Matthew Goodwin, Revolt on the Right: Explaining Support for the Radical Right in Britain (London: Routledge, 2014) (Ford and Goodwin 2014).
- 23.
Identifying respondents holding a higher education degree in contrast to those who do not.
- 24.
Question wording: ‘Which best describes you, on scale from ‘English not British’ to ‘British not English’?’ [other options: More English than British; Equally British and English; More British than English; Neither British nor English]
- 25.
Question wording: ‘Does England get more, less or pretty much its fair share of government spending?’
- 26.
Question wording: ‘How much difference do you think changes in how the UK is governed will make to your own life?’
- 27.
The Wald Statistic gives a simple indication of the relative standardised size of the effect of a particular variable in a model. The greater its value, the greater the relative effect.
- 28.
Question wording: ‘With all the changes going on in the way the different parts of the United Kingdom are run, which of the following do you think would be best for England?’ Answer option order was randomised to avoid ordering effects. Options wording: ‘For England to be governed as it is now, with laws made by the UK parliament’, ‘For laws to be made by the UK Parliament, but only Members of Parliament for English constituencies voting on matters affecting England only’, ‘For each region of England to have its own assembly that would take decisions on certain issues at a regional level’, ‘For England as a whole to have its own new parliament with lawmaking powers’
- 29.
Question wording: ‘There are different possible ways of making decisions about how England should be governed. Who do you think decisions about how England is governed should be taken by?’, Answer options: ‘The UK Parliament at Westminster’, ‘The people of England in a referendum’, ‘A constitutional convention’
References
Conservative Democracy Taskforce. Answering the Question: Devolution, the West Lothian Question and the Future of the Union (London: Conservative Party, 2009).
Ford, Robert, and Matthew Goodwin. Revolt on the Right: Explaining Support for the Radical Right in Britain (London: Routledge, 2014).
Hayton, Richard, ‘The UK Independence Party and the Politics of Englishness,’ Political Studies Review, 14:3 (2016), 400–10.
Hazell, Robert (ed.) The English Question (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2006).
Jeffery, Charlie, ‘Where does the Labour Party Stand on English Votes for English Laws?’, The New Statesman, 15 January 2015, at http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2015/01/where-does-labour-party-stand-english-votes-english-laws (accessed 14 November 2016).
Jeffery, Charlie, Ailsa Henderson, Roger Scully and Richard Wyn Jones, ‘England’s Dissatisfactions and the Conservative Dilemma’,’ Political Studies Review, 14:3 (2016), 335–48.
Kelly, Richard, ‘English Votes for English Laws’, House of Commons Library Briefing Paper, No. 7339, 2 December 2015, at http://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/CBP-7339#fullreport (accessed 14 November 2016).
Kenny, Michael, The Politics of English Nationhood (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014).
Kenny, Michael, ‘Englishness Politicised?: Unpicking the Normative Implications of the McKay Commission,’ British Journal of Politics & International Relations, 17:1 (2015), 157.
Kenny, Michael, and Daniel Gover, ‘The Triumph of EVEL: What Next for the English Question?’, The Constitution Unit blog, 23 October 2015, at https://constitution-unit.com/2015/10/23/the-triumph-of-evel-what-next-for-the-english-question/ (accessed 14 November 2016).
McKay Commission, Report of the Commission on the Consequences of Devolution for the House of Commons (London: McKay Commission, 2013).
Mycock, Andy, and Richard Hayton, ‘The Party Politics of Englishness,’ British Journal of Politics & International Relations, 16:2 (2012), 251–72.
Ormston, Rachel, and John Curtice ‘Resentment or Contentment? Attitudes towards the Union 10 Years on,’ in Alison Park, John Curtice, Elizabeth Clery, and Caroline Bryson, British Social Attitudes: The 27th Report – Exploring Labour’s Legacy (London: SAGE, 2010), 156.
Wyn Jones, Richard, Guy Lodge, Charlie Jeffery, Glenn Gottfried, Roger Scully, Ailsa Henderson, and Dan Wincott, England and its Two Unions: The Anatomy of a Nation and its Discontents: The 2012 Future of England Survey (London: IPPR, 2013).
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Kenealy, D., Eichhorn, J., Parry, R., Paterson, L., Remond, A. (2017). The English Question I: Is EVEL the Answer?. In: Publics, Elites and Constitutional Change in the UK. Comparative Territorial Politics. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-52818-2_5
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