Negotiating Brexit: power dynamics in British intergovernmental relations

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the power and influence of the Scottish and Welsh governments in shaping UK Brexit policy during the first phase of Brexit, from the European Union referendum to the Withdrawal Agreement. It analyses their limited recourse to constitutional authority, and their exploitation of procedural and soft power, in their efforts to make UK Brexit policy reflect devolved government interests. It draws a distinction between the external and internal dimensions of Brexit, noting the inability of the devolved governments to gain any influence in shaping the former, despite increased procedural opportunities. By contrast, both constitutional and, especially, non-constitutional power shaped intergovernmental dynamics with respect to the domestic Brexit process, helping the devolved governments to secure concessions regarding the impact of UK Brexit legislation on devolution.

KEYWORDS:

• Brexit
• devolution
• Wales
• Scotland
• power

JEL:

• Z

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author is grateful to the Scottish government constitution and UK relations team for welcoming her during a short secondment and considerably enhancing her understanding of that government’s approach to intergovernmental relations. The author is also indebted to the three anonymous referees and the special issue editor, Professor Dan Wincott, for very insightful and constructive comments on an earlier draft of the paper.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. The Northern Ireland Executive collapsed on 16 January 2017 when the then Deputy First Minister, Martin McGuiness, resigned, and successive attempts at cross-party talks failed to restore power-sharing government throughout the period under study. The executive was eventually reformed in January 2020.

2. The author benefited from a part-time secondment in the Scottish government’s UK Relations team from January to August 2019. This aided her understanding of the Scottish government’s approach to and experience of intergovernmental relations. All documentary evidence used here is already in the public domain.

3. No ministerial forums took place in the final five months of May’s premiership, reportedly in a dispute about the forum’s purpose in Brexit negotiations.

4. Under the reserved powers model, the devolved legislatures are free to legislate in any areas not identified in the devolution statutes as reserved matters, except those specific Acts of Parliament that are given protected status and so protected from modification (in schedule 4 of the Scotland Act 1998 and Schedule 7B of the Government of Wales Act).

5. The Law Derived from the European Union (Wales) Bill (Welsh Continuity Bill) was introduced on 27 February 2018, completed its parliamentary stages within three weeks, was enacted in June 2018 and repealed in November 2018, six months after its referral to the Supreme Court was withdrawn. The UK Withdrawal from the European Union (Legal Continuity) (Scotland) Bill was tabled on 28 February 2018 and it passed its parliamentary stages within three weeks, but could not be enacted while the case was being considered by the Supreme Court.

Additional information

Funding

The research for this paper was supported by two Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) research grants [grant numbers ES/P009441/1 and ES/T000856/1].