Coalition Governance in Scotland and Wales

This Briefing analyses the initial experience of coalition government in Scotland and Wales. Scotland

has been ruled by a coalition administration since the first devolution elections in 1999; Wales

experienced a coalition for over half the first term of the National Assembly. It is thus a good time to

review the early experience of power-sharing government: to explore how the coalition arrangements

worked, what adaptations have been made to these arrangements, and what further reforms might be

necessary in future.