32
conclude that “the government would do well to consider experimenting with the model
further.”
114
The Death of Regional Devolution in England?
Despite the claim by the Labour MP Gisela Stuart that regional devolution died
with the North East’s referendum debacle of November 4, 2004, this phenomenon,
evident in all of the examples given above, is not set to disappear.
115
On November 4,
2004 the electorate of the North East region went to the polls and overwhelmingly
rejected a proposed devolved assembly by a margin of 55.86 percent (77.93 percent
against, 22.07 percent in favor).
116
But why exactly was this form of regional devolution
so soundly defeated? This section will address the varying issues that may have played a
role in undermining a directly-elected regional assembly for the North East and may have
already determined the fate of this type of devolution in the future. But first it is
necessary to outline why directly-elected regional assemblies were proposed in the first
place.
Perhaps the West Lothian Question
117
epitomizes the biggest problem with
devolution to Scotland, which, in turn, has been one of the root causes of an increase in
English national and/or regional identities. The Labour MP Tam Dalyell formulated it in
1977 during the debate on the first proposal for a Scottish Assembly. This question asked
why Scottish MPs, following devolution, should be allowed to vote on matters
concerning social and home affairs in English constituencies when English MPs could
not do the same on Scottish matters, as these issues would be tackled solely by the
114
“Elected mayors ‘boost democracy,’” 23 February 2004.
115
Gisela Stuart MP, phone conversation with author, 8 March 2005.
116
Helene Mulholland, “North-east voters reject regional assembly,” The Guardian, 5 November 2004.
117
The late Enoch Powell MP devised the slogan in honour of the constituency that its formulator, Tam
Dalyell, represented at the time.
Convention