Acts of Parliament to establish the Scottish Parliament, National Assembly for Wales and Northern Ireland Assembly were all passed in 1998 under the Labour government led by Tony Blair. They provided for significant devolution of power in UK government. In the same year Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) were established as a new focus for English regional governance. Together they all raised questions about the territorial organisation of the state in central government. In the twenty or so years since then the territorial question in UK politics has scarcely slipped down the political agenda, leading to further territorial reforms in all parts of the UK and the ultimate challenge of the referendum on Scottish independence in 2014. The UK's departure from the European Union, heralded by the referendum vote in 2016, has led to further debate, notably about the future of Northern Ireland and Scotland. Territorial politics and constitutional policy have become key dimensions of UK state development.

This book is the first of a two-volume study which seeks to provide a comprehensive analysis of this subject. It focuses on the period from 1997–2007, addressing the origins and introduction of the original devolution settlements, and the subsequent decade of their development until the end of the Blair governments in 2007. In these years the original devolution reforms followed extensive debate in the 1980s and 1990s, including in Northern Ireland a peace process and talks that led ultimately to the historic 1998 Belfast Agreement. Referenda in each of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland were held in 1997. The subsequent development of devolution up to 2007 included the move to start at least a debate about further reform in Scotland, as well as more immediately a second Government of Wales Act in 2006. In Northern Ireland the 2006 St Andrews Agreement reset the terms of the original 1998 settlement, and enabled the resumption of devolution in 2007, after the Northern Ireland Assembly had spent more time suspended than in session. A referendum on an elected assembly for the North East in 2004 ended in a ‘no’ vote, but the powers of central government offices in the English regions, RDAs and indirectly elected regional assemblies nevertheless increased.