ABSTRACT
In contrast to Scotland, devolution in Wales in the late 1990s was some way from representing the settled will of the people. It received affirmation in the 1997 referendum by the tiny majority of just 0.6 per cent. There was also a problematic background to devolution in that distinct governmental capacity had generally developed slowly.There was not much cohesion even among elites who generally supported devolution. There had been nothing like the Scottish Constitutional Convention; the Labour Party,which had long been the dominant party, stayed aloof from other parties and was cautious. It offered proposals for a National Assembly with only secondary legislative powers, funded entirely by central government block grant, which were duly enacted in the 1998 Government of Wales Act. Supporters of devolution, nevertheless, took an optimistic line.The 1997 ‘yes’ vote was a 30 per cent increase on the ‘yes’ vote in the 1979 referendum and the ‘yes’ campaign had promised much. Pro-devolutionists generally looked forward to more accountable governance and pluralist politics.They envisaged autonomy in a wide range of policy areas. Ron Davies, Labour’s Secretary of State for Wales, 1997-1998, referred to devolution as ‘a process rather than an event’ (Davies 1999); it was expected that the Assembly’s powers would evolve over time.
