Devolution in England

Devolution in England describes the process of the UK Governmentgranting more powers to the subdivisions of England. These subdivisions are, most recently, the twenty strategic authorities, which include the Greater London Authority, the thirteen combined authorities, and the six combined county authorities. All of them, except the Greater London Authority, are groupings of local authorities in parts of England.

The concept of transferring powers to parts of England was first raised in 1912 by Winston Churchill, as part of his proposal for a federal system. In the later half of the 20th century, concepts of provincial or regional governance were explored, with nine Government Office Regions created in 1994, and eight of them having regional chambers in 1998. The lone exception, Greater London, had the devolved Greater London Authority established in 2000 following a 1998 referendum. However, plans for devolution to the other eight regions of England were abandoned following a defeat in a 2004 referendum in North East England.

Subsequently, the eight regional assemblies were abolished by 2010, and were followed by the introduction of the "combined authorities", with the first one set up in Greater Manchester in 2011. From 2016, the role of a directly-elected mayor leading an authority was introduced, followed by a new form of body, a combined county authority, from 2023. Since 2026, combined authorities, combined county authorities, and the Greater London Authority are all designated as a form of "strategic authority". The Starmer government planned for all parts of England to be covered by a strategic authority with a mayor. The mayoral strategic authorities sit on the Council of the Nations and Regions and the Mayoral Council for England.

Unlike Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, England does not have its own national devolved legislature or government and is therefore subject to the administration of the UK Government in most executive areas and entirely subject to the UK Parliament in Westminster in all legislative areas. There have been proposals for a national devolved body, as well as other proposals for devolved bodies in different unofficial regions or counties of England.