2011 Welsh devolution referendum

2011 Welsh devolution referendum

3 March 2011 (2011-03-03)
Do you want the Assembly now to be able to make laws on all matters in the 20 subject areas it has powers for?
Results
Choice Votes % Yes 517,132 63.49% No 297,380 36.51% Valid votes 814,512 99.86% Invalid or blank votes 1,116 0.14% Total votes 815,628 100.00% Registered voters/turnout 2,289,044 35.63%
Results by principal area

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National and regional referendums held within the United Kingdom and its constituent countries
Northern Ireland border poll     1973 EC membership referendum     1975 Scottish devolution referendum     1979 Welsh devolution referendum     1979 Scottish devolution referendum     1997 Welsh devolution referendum     1997 Greater London Authority referendum     1998 NI Good Friday Agreement referendum     1998 NE England devolution referendum     2004 Welsh devolution referendum     2011 Alternative Vote referendum     2011 Scottish independence referendum     2014 EU membership referendum     2016     * UK-wide referendums in bold
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A referendum on the powers of the National Assembly for Wales was held on 3 March 2011. Voters were asked whether the Assembly should have full law-making powers in the twenty subject areas where it has jurisdiction. The referendum asked the question: ‘Do you want the Assembly now to be able to make laws on all matters in the 20 subject areas it has powers for?’

If a majority voted 'yes', the Assembly would then be able to make laws, known as Acts of the Assembly, on all matters in the subject areas, without needing the UK Parliament's agreement. If a majority voted 'no', the arrangements at the time of the referendum would have continued – that is, in each devolved area, the Assembly would be able to make its own laws on some matters, but not others. To make laws on any of these other matters, the Assembly would have had to ask the UK Parliament to transfer the powers to it.^[1][2] Regulations for the referendum, and the powers to be approved or rejected by it, were provided for in the Government of Wales Act 2006.

The results of the referendum were announced on 4 March 2011. Overall, 63.49% voted 'yes', and 36.51% voted 'no'. In 21 of 22 local authorities the vote was 'yes', with the exception being Monmouthshire by a slim majority. The overall turnout was 35.2%. First Minister Carwyn Jones, welcoming the result, said: "Today an old nation came of age."

While the referendum was technically non-binding, it gave the Welsh Government the statutory authority to make a ministerial order triggering the relevant changes in the Assembly's powers. The order was duly made on 30 March and came into force on 5 May 2011, the day of the quadrennial Assembly election.^[3]