Standing Up for the Nations? Devolution and the Changing Territorial Role of Backbench MPs with Constituencies in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, 1992–2019

Abstract

At UK general elections, parties and candidates standing in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales give prominence to pledges to act on behalf of those territories. This article examines how far and in what ways MPs with constituencies in those parts of the UK actually seek to give representation to these territorial units once elected. A typology of forms of substantive parliamentary representation of sub-state units such as these is outlined, and results of a content analysis of Commons contributions by backbench MPs between 1992 and 2019 are presented. It is found that MPs from the parts of the UK with devolved legislatures focus extensively on the sub-state territorial level and that these MPs have adapted their representational styles to the changed institutional context following devolution. These findings have important implications for how we think about the roles of MPs from Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales in the post-devolution context.