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Conservative Party on Government and Devolution

The legal establishment of the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh National Assembly, and Northern Ireland Assembly in 1998, following simple majority referenda, brought the issue of devolution into the focus in the UK. The degree of power devolved to the three regions has been consistently debated, as has debate about governance at the local level. Issues related to the latter include: the introduction of elected mayors and the role of local governments, such as county and borough councils.

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The issues

Conservative Party strongly supports rebalancing power between the legislature and the executive in favour of the legislature

"(W)e can loosen the stranglehold of the executive and restore to Parliament some of the powers it has lost…instead of government running the whole timetable, we'll make sure that the Commons claws back some controls of its agenda, giving them mor epower to represent the views of their constitutents." - Sir George Young (Shadown Leader of the House of Commons), 2009 Party Conference Speech

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Conservative Party strongly opposes allowing Scottish MPs to vote in Westminster on policy issues that only affect England and Wales as a result of devolution

Labour have refused to address the so-called ‘West Lothian Question’: the unfair situation of Scottish MPs voting on matters which are devolved. A Conservative government will introduce new rules so that legislation referring specifically to England, or to England and Wales, cannot be enacted without the consent of MPs representing constituencies of those countries.

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"A Conservative government will...address the West Lothian question and give English MPs a decisive say on laws that affect only England."

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Conservative Party strongly supports the devolution of power from central government to local authorities such as County Councils, Borough Councils and Metropolitan Authorities

"We need to redistribute power and responsibility. It’s your community and you should have control over it......so we need decentralisation. It’s your money and you should know what is being done with it......so we need transparency. It’s your life that’s affected by political decisions and the people who make those decisions should answer to you, so we need accountability," David Cameron 2009 Party Conference speech

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"We will inaugurate a new era of independent local government, giving back to town halls the power to spend their money as they see fit, and to manage local services independently of Whitehall."

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"Our vision of localism is one where power is decentralised to the lowest possible level. For services which are used individually, this means putting power in the hands of individuals themselves. Where services are enjoyed collectively, they should be delivered by accountable community groups; or, where the scale is too large or those using a service too dispersed, by local authorities themselves, subject to democratic checks and balances."

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Conservative Party strongly supports the creation of elected mayors’ offices in large English cities, similar to the office of the London Mayor

"And we will give people in our 12 largest cities the choice of an elected mayor...I can announce today that elected mayors will be able to take over the powers of local authoirty chief executives…So let's have elected mayors who can hire and fire, and really grip spending - without an unelected officer telling them what to do." - Caroline Spelman MP (Shadow Community Secretary), 2009 Party Conference speech

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