The Scottish referendum looks set to bring change to the UK Parliament. But Westminster has seen plenty of that over the past 900 years.
Parliament started life as an English affair. It was not much of a Parliament – more of a talking shop for the king and rich men. The king asked their advice, but did what he wanted. These meetings morphed into a formal arrangement which eventually became the House of Lords. In those days – and for several centuries later – England was busy fighting with Scotland and raiding Wales.
By the 13th Century, a parliament was when kings met up with English barons to raise cash for fighting wars – mostly against Scotland. Thanks to Magna Carta of 1215, kings were now obliged to ask before taking anyone's money. That did not stop the rows though. Some barons got fed up with Henry III – not least because of his failed, expensive battles in Wales. The ambitious Simon de Montfort sidelined Henry and made himself ruler. De Montfort was a big fan of Parliament. The one in 1265 was the first to involve "ordinary" folk – knights, not just the super-rich. And it was the first time elections were held – the first stirrings of the House of Commons we know today. The venue was usually Westminster, where one enterprising monarch had built a massive hall on a swamp, which grew into the Palace of Westminster. Westminster Hall is still in use today.
Scotland had its own parliament from the 13th century, which was occasionally held in open air. In those days, though, the king had the real power. So one of the early campaigns for independence was sparked by an English king declaring himself king of Scotland. William Wallace led the rebellion. In those days campaign weapons were bows and arrows. Wallace was eventually found guilty of treason. He was dragged through the streets of London naked before being hanged, drawn and quartered.
In the early days there were no rules on who could vote. But a feeling developed that too many "persons of low estate" were doing so. So from 1430 you could only vote if you owned property worth 40 shillings. The rule stayed in place for 400 years.
Ireland also had its own parliament from the 13th Century. In 1542, Irish MPs decided that whoever was king of England should also be king of Ireland. They kept their parliament going though.
The seeds of a UK Parliament were sown in 1542 when Wales came on board. At the time, Wales was a patchwork of independent areas. But along came Henry VIII, a man fond of dramatic gestures. Having given the Catholic Church its marching orders, he was worried that the Catholics would not go quietly. To stop the Welsh coming under their influence, he decided Wales would be ruled by England. By now Parliament was a full-blooded institution and Wales was allowed to send representatives. Henry called it an Act of Union but it was more of a forced marriage.
By 1603, England and Scotland had the same king but different parliaments. King James tried to persuade the English Parliament to bring the Scottish Parliament into the fold. But English MPs refused to let any Scots into the Westminster club.
The Commons got into its stride in the 1620s. Turbulent years and a great time to be a journalist. Fights in the chamber… the king trying to arrest MPs. Eventually, Charles I dissolved Parliament for 11 years. He brought it back because he was short of money for a war with… Scotland. The rows got worse, leading to a war between Parliament and the king. The king was put on trial and then executed. Hard to imagine nowadays but the Commons voted to abolish the monarchy altogether.
After the civil war, England became a republic under Oliver Cromwell. Cromwell had big ideas. He annexed Scotland and Ireland into a full union with a single parliament at Westminster. The 1654 parliament was the first one in which the whole of Britain was represented. But Cromwell dissolved it pretty quickly when MPs refused to do his bidding.
Big changes for Parliament from 1707 when Scotland became a fully paid-up member. Again, it was about fears of a Catholic takeover – to stop a Catholic king forming a rival power base in Scotland. It was also prompted by the failure of a colonial venture in central America, which left Scotland bankrupt and in need of money – even if it was English cash. The 1707 Act of Union brought England and Scotland together – with one king and no more Scottish Parliament. Scottish MPs and Lords made their way down to Westminster. But there were complaints, elegantly summed up by Robert Burns, that Scotland had been "bought and sold for English gold".
At the end of the 18th Century, there was a powerful campaign for Irish independence from England. The English response? To crush the rebellion brutally and bring Ireland firmly into the UK with another Act of Union. That was the end of the Irish Parliament. A hundred Irish MPs turned up at Westminster. By now, the Commons chamber was getting pretty crowded.
The fledgling UK Parliament – now made up of English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh MPs – had a lot to grapple with in the 19th Century. The assassination of a prime minister and the start of big changes to Parliament – with more men being given the vote and people being allowed to vote in secret.
There was a succession of rebellions in Ireland, throughout the 19th Century, against Britain. Moderate rebels settled on "Home Rule" as the way forward – which included bringing back an Irish Parliament. Just as the Westminster Parliament looked set to agree, World War One broke out. Finally in 1920 – after a rebellion which became a civil war – a law was passed dividing Ireland into north and south. Northern Ireland was given its own parliament, which was suspended 1972 because of the Troubles. The south became a new independent Irish state. And, of course, this arrangement was fiercely controversial for most of the 20th Century.
For the first 800 years or so Parliament was a club for men. Women finally got the vote in 1918 after the campaign by the Suffragettes. The first woman elected to the Commons, in 1918, was Countess Constance Markievicz but as a member of Sinn Fein she refused to take her seat. The first woman to take her seat was Viscountess Nancy Astor in 1919.
The desire for Scottish independence has never gone away. The Scottish National Party was created in 1934 and won its first seat at Westminster in 1945. The SNP managed an all-time high of 11 Westminster seats in 1974. Five years later there was a referendum on Scottish devolution. A small majority voted in favour. But the proposal did not get the support of the required 40% of the electorate. Welsh nationalists created Plaid Cymru in 1925, reaching a peak of four Westminster seats in 1992. It is a peculiar situation for nationalist MPs – sitting in a parliament that they do not want to be a part of. For Irish nationalist politicians – Sinn Fein – the answer is to win a seat but never turn up at Westminster.
Parliament had its first major jolt to the system in a long while when Labour came into government in 1997. Tony Blair decided to complete some unfinished business. Along came a Parliament for Scotland with powers to make laws on education, health and crime. Labour hoped devolution would kill off Scottish nationalism for good. But the SNP ended up winning the Scottish parliamentary elections in 2007. For Northern Ireland and Wales, there were assemblies.
David Cameron announced in October 2012 that there would be a referendum on whether Scotland should separate from the rest of the United Kingdom. It was held on 18 September 2014 and turned out to be a lot closer than expected, with 45% voting for independence. Promises of more powers devolved to Scotland were made as the campaign neared its end. They have prompted calls for changes to the rules, so only English MPs decide on matters, such as education, which only apply to England.
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