Ex-Tory Minister says Senedd should be abolished

Martin Shipton

A former UK Conservative Minister who was one of the most hardline supporters of Brexit has advocated the abolition of the Senedd and the Scottish Parliament.

In doing so, Steve Baker has become the first leading Tory to express such a view publicly.

A former RAF engineer, Baker was the MP for Wycombe in Buckinghamshire from 2010 to 2024. He came to prominence after the 2016 referendum on EU membership which saw a narrow victory for the Leave campaign.

Baker chaired the so-called European Research Group of hardline Tory MPs, allying himself with the likes of Jacob Rees-Mogg who pushed for a hard Brexit.

He became a Minister in the Department for Exiting the EU and oversaw work in Whitehall that led to the UK leaving the European Customs Union.

During an interview with the Institute for Government, a think tank that describes its mission as undertaking research to help make government more effective, it was put to him that during the period when changes resulting from Brexit were being made, there had been quite a strained relationship between the UK government and the devolved nations.

Asked how his department had engaged with the devolved administrations and how that had affected the work of the department and his work as a minister, Baker said: “I would say that from my point of view, the devolution settlement we now have in the UK is unfit for purpose.

“I’m not standing for election so I’m going to say I think we’d be better off reversing the entire devolution settlement. It’s not in the public interest that things should work the way they do. It leads to far too many politicians having far too much voice. It doesn’t really serve the public. “Northern Ireland is a different case because of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement. But in Wales and Scotland, if I genuinely thought that some beautiful ideal of democracy was being upheld by having these more local representatives doing things, then I’d be more supportive. But Wales is being gerrymandered. The NHS there is rubbish. I mean, it’s not good. In Scotland, the SNP is only really interested in breaking up the country, not really governing it. They would collaborate with Sinn Féin.

“It’s just a mess. I am convinced that the public interest would be served by abandoning devolution and just having national government and county councils.”

Baker’s comments raise the issue of whether a future Tory or Reform government might seek to abolish the Senedd, even without a referendum.

Reforms

The issue was addressed recently in an essay called Slouching Towards Cardiff Bay written by NationCymru columnist Desmond Clifford. He pointed out that as the law stands, it would be perfectly possible for the UK Parliament to pass a law that closed the Senedd down, even if that went against the wishes of the people of Wales.

In the essay, Clifford lists a number of reforms he believes should be implemented as soon as possible, the first of which relates to the status of the Senedd.

He writes: “Abolish devolution. Sovereignty for Wales should be held by Senedd Cymru on behalf of the Welsh people. Westminster holding a leash is wrong in principle and in every way objectionable. Sovereignty for Wales belongs to Wales and nowhere else.

“The UK is a voluntary union. Senedd Cymru / the Welsh Parliament should exist by right and in perpetuity in the name of the Welsh people. It should not exist through the goodwill of Westminster and should not be capable of abolition by it. Welsh sovereignty should be reassigned immediately from Westminster to Senedd Cymru.”