6. p. 160Multilevel Governing Within the United Kingdom
- Andrew Le Sueur, Andrew Le SueurProfessor of Constitutional Justice, University of Essex
- Maurice SunkinMaurice SunkinProfessor of Public Law and Socio-Legal Studies, University of Essex
- and Jo Eric Khushal MurkensJo Eric Khushal MurkensAssociate Professor of Law, London School of Economics and Political Science
Abstract
This chapter examines multilevel governing within the UK. It is organized around three levels of governing: national, regional, and local. For most of the twentieth century, Great Britain (England, Wales, and Scotland) formed a centralized political unit, with policymaking and law-making being led by the UK government and the UK Parliament. There was devolved government in Northern Ireland from 1922, but this was brought to an end by the UK government in 1972 amid mounting civil unrest and paramilitary violence. At the local level, there are more than 400 local authorities throughout the United Kingdom. These vary considerably in size, both in terms of their territorial area that they cover and their populations.
