The Connection between Brexit and Attempts to Find an Answer to the West Lothian Question

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja.22.2025.97.05

Keywords:

devolution, England, United Kingdom, West Lothian Question, English Question, Brexit, nationalism

Abstract

The article constitutes an attempt to deal with the paradox contained in the West Lothian Question (known also as the English Question) which remains one of the greatest anomalies of the British constitutional system. Since the 1970s (when this question was asked for the first time) there have been many legal and political disputes over that issue, and even the idea of ‘English votes for English laws’ (EVEL) was implemented by the British parliament.
The purpose of the article is to analyze and evaluate the potential impact of Brexit on that issue. By applying the historical method as well as the institutional and legal analysis method, the author verifies the hypothesis that Brexit will not be a breakthrough in finding an optimal solution to this legal and constitutional conundrum, even though in the post-Brexit reality this issue will keep returning, gaining a completely new meaning in the eyes of the British.

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Author Biography

  • Łukasz Danel, Krakow University of Economics

    Habilitated doctor, associate professor in the Department of Political Studies at the Krakow University of Economics, Rector’s Representative for Equal Treatment, supervisor of the ‘Homo Politicus’ students scientific association, author of numerous publications devoted to the British political and constitutional system, including a monograph on Brexit.

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Published

03-09-2025

How to Cite

“The Connection Between Brexit and Attempts to Find an Answer to the West Lothian Question”. 2025. Politeja 22 (3(97): 109-21. https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja.22.2025.97.05.