By now, most people are well aware that the nation states of Great Britain are following different paths in some key areas of policy. Variations in funding for higher education and long-term care are the two most well-known examples.
But fewer people are aware that the Labour party has been comfortably coping with internal diversity since well before the first elections were held for the new Scottish parliament and Welsh assembly.
In the run up to the 1997 general election, the ‘pledge cards’ containing Labour’s five main promises were subtly different. It featured a tailor-made fifth pledge to Welsh and Scottish voters, offering them a referendum on devolution.
Just two years after Labour came to power, having fought and won referenda to secure public support for the proposals, the first elections for the new devolved institutions were held on 6 May 1999. While Labour candidates won the most seats in both countries, the Liberal Democrats were invited to join coalition governments – from the start in Holyrood, and within a year in Cardiff.
If it seems hard to believe that the second elections to devolved bodies are now almost upon us, then only reflect on how much political and policy terrain has been traversed in the past four years.
The Scottish Executive has been led by no fewer than three first ministers, with the premature death of Donald Dewar followed by a brief but significant tenure by Henry McLeish before the election of Jack McConnell. Amidst the furore over the spiralling costs of the new parliament building in Edinburgh, members of the Scottish parliament settled into their temporary accommodation on the George IV Bridge.
There they managed to pass more legislation than Westminster could ever have found time for, from setting up two new national parks to creating new powers for tackling drug dealers to more effective means for resolving anti-social neighbour problems.
But it is in the fields of health and education that MSPs of all parties have had the most to say. Unsurprising, perhaps, given these are the highest profile policy areas over which the devolved institutions enjoy power. MSPs have played a constant game of ‘raise the stakes’ to ensure that provision for the sick and for students is that bit better than over the border.
Smaller class sizes in England? Smaller still for more age groups in Scotland. Recruitment campaigns for new medical staff in England? Guaranteed jobs for all new nurses and midwives in Scotland. Public health campaigns to encourage people to eat five pieces of fruit and veg a day in England? Free fruit handed out to schoolchildren in Scotland. It is too early to tell whether this policy one-upmanship is the inevitable consequence of home rule in a more naturally left-leaning country, or the start of a virtuous spiral that will lead to more progressive policies on both sides of Hadrian’s Wall.
Meanwhile in Wales, the more modest powers of the assembly, enjoying only secondary legislative powers and no control over taxation, have undoubtedly made a marked difference to the political and social landscape over the last four years. Two first secretaries, Alun Michael then Rhodri Morgan, have overseen achievements ranging from the introduction of learning grants for students in higher education from less well-off families, to major investment for widening broadband access and regenerating the most deprived communities. AMs even chose to reverse one of Mrs Thatcher’s most unpopular decisions by reintroducing free milk in infant schools.
Legislative achievements are the easiest reference point for observers seeking to evaluate the worth of the new bodies. But it’s important not to lose sight of the fact that politicians in Scotland and Wales are engaged in an experiment to develop a new form of governance.
This new politics includes extensive attempts to communicate and include the public in the working of the parliament and assembly. For example, MSPs and AMs can leave the locations in which they normally sit and hold committee meetings around the country. They also maintain impressive, information-laden websites that make decision-making transparent and accountable.
Any member of the Scottish public can initiate legislation by submitting a petition, and there exists an extensive practice of pre-legislative scrutiny: both hallmarks of a new approach to law making. The daily practices of both MSPs and AMs are subtly, but significantly, different, with truly family-friendly working hours, the use of members’ first names in the chamber and the ability to clap a speech; advantages which are still distant dreams for colleagues in Westminster.
Both new devolved institutions have many achievements to wave proudly at those who focus on the teething difficulties and personal foibles that have unfolded since May 1999. But the output from Edinburgh and Cardiff should be measured in the light of the hopes that were held for the new tiers of governments.
A modest view held in pre-devolution days was that simply bringing decision-making closer to the people should be viewed as a success. The ability of the new institutions to change society for the better should be considered a bonus, and if mistakes are made, then at least they’re ‘our mistakes’, rather than London’s.
Many held more ambitious views, fuelled by the energy of the referendum campaigns, that devolution would bring massive social and political change, perhaps even better weather! Neither a pessimistic, nor a wildly optimistic, view offers a good evaluation of the first four years. Real achievements sit alongside frustrating distractions, and the enthusiasm of the public has waxed and waned to a worrying degree.
The challenge for the next four years is to revitalise the excitement that greeted the opening of the new institutions, to continue generating imaginative and effective legislation and to prove that a new way of doing politics is not only possible, but is already happening just a few hundred miles away from Westminster.