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

This article is part of a series within the Politics of the United Kingdom on the
Politics of Wales
The Crown The Monarch Charles III Heir Apparent William, Prince of Wales Prerogative Royal family Succession Privy Council King-in-Parliament Lord-lieutenant Llwynywermod England and Wales Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542 Principality of Wales Welsh republicanism
Government Welsh Government Gething government (list) First Minister (list) Rt Hon Vaughan Gething MS (L) Cabinet Civil Service Welsh Budget Taxation Directorates Sponsored bodies State-owned enterprises Crown Buildings, Cathays Park Counsel General – Mick Antoniw MS (L) Chief Whip and Trefnydd – Jane Hutt MS (L) International relations Internal diplomatic missions Welsh Government international offices
Legislature Senedd Sixth Senedd Llywydd (Presiding Officer) Elin Jones MS (PC) Leader of the Opposition Andrew RT Davies MS (C) Shadow Cabinet (current) Primary legislation (list) Acts Measures Statutory instruments Members (MSs) Current members Elections (by-elections) Constituencies and electoral regions First Minister's Questions Devolution referendum (2011 referendum) Government of Wales Act 1998 2006 Act 2014 Act 2017 Act Senedd estate, Cardiff Bay (Senedd building Tŷ Hywel Pierhead Building)
Wales and the United Kingdom HM Government Sunak ministry Prime Minister Rt Hon Rishi Sunak MP (C) Secretary of State for Wales Rt Hon David TC Davies MP (C) UK Parliament 58th Parliament House of Commons Wales Office Under-Secretary Welsh Grand Committee Welsh Affairs Select Committee Interministerial Standing Committee Government of Wales Act 2006 Elections Constituencies Current Westminster MPs Diplomatic missions Barnett formula Devolution Devolved matters Reserved matters Legislative consent motion Unionism Independence Politics of the United Kingdom
Law and justice Welsh law English law Wales-only laws Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542 Wales and Berwick Act 1746 Capital of Wales: Cardiff Supreme Court of the United Kingdom Courts of England and Wales President of Welsh Tribunals Police forces Police and crime commissioner (list)
Local administration History Subdivisions of Wales Historic counties (list) Preserved counties (list) Principal areas (list) Former districts list pre-1973 list 1974-1996 Communities (list) Local government Principal councils (leader list) Corporate Joint Committees Cities (list) Cardiff (Mayor / Council) Swansea (Mayor / Council) Newport (Mayor / Council) Wrexham (Mayor / Council) Community council (list) Communities with city status Bangor St Asaph St Davids Local twinning see also: Regional terms and Regional economy
Elections and referendums Senedd elections 1999 2003 2007 2011 2016 2021 Next United Kingdom Parliament elections 1801 co-option 1802 1806 1807 1812 1818 1820 1826 1830 1831 1832 1835 1837 1841 1847 1852 1857 1859 1865 1868 1874 1880 1885 1886 1892 1895 1900 1906 1910 (Jan) 1910 (Dec) 1918 1922 1923 1924 1929 1931 1935 1945 1950 1951 1955 1959 1964 1966 1970 1974 (Feb) 1974 (Oct) 1979 1983 1987 1992 1997 2001 2005 2010 2015 2017 2019 European Parliament elections (1979–2020) 1979 1984 1989 1994 1999 2004 2009 2014 2019 Local elections 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1999 2004 2008 2012 2017 2022 Police and crime commissioner elections 2012 2016 2021 Referendums 1975 1979 1997 2011 2011 2016 1915–16 Anglican border polls 2004 Ceredigion mayoral Senedd constituencies and electoral regions UK parliamentary constituencies in Wales Political parties Represented in the Senedd (Labour Conservatives Plaid Cymru Liberal Democrats) Think tanks
Category Wales portal Other countries
v t e

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
v t e

The referendum on the law-making powers of the National Assembly for Wales was a referendum held in Wales on 3 March 2011 on whether the National Assembly for Wales 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]