Brexit and the Territorial Constitution of the United Kingdom

Over the last twenty years, the United Kingdom has been transformed from a unitary to an asymmetrically decentralized state, embedded in membership of the European Union. The decision, following the referendum of June 2016, to leave the European Union has major repercussions on the internal constitution of the United Kingdom and its relationship with the Republic of Ireland. Scotland and Northern Ireland voted to remain in the EU but have also expressed a preference for remaining in the United Kingdom; now they cannot have both. Control of competences coming back from the EU is contested between the UK and devolved governments. The lack of rules in the largely unwritten constitution means that there are no clear ways of resolving the resulting conflicts. The United Kingdom has become the site of a real-time experiment in constitutional change, in conditions of uncertainty.