United Kingdom
In Northern Ireland, Sinn Féin and the Social Democratic Labour Party achieve between them over 40% of the vote at elections, with both parties supporting Northern Ireland leaving the United Kingdom and being reunited with the Republic of Ireland.
In Scotland, the Scottish National Party (SNP) won an outright majority at the 2011 Scottish Parliamentary elections. It hopes to hold a referendum on Scottish independence before the next parliamentary elections in 2015.
In Wales, Plaid Cymru believes in an independent Wales.
In England, there are movements, such as the English Democrats, calling for a devolved English Parliament. There are also movements, such as the Wessex Regionalists, calling for devolution of power to the English regions. Movements seeking autonomy or independence are also present in the peninsula of Cornwall.
There is also a strong independent movement in the UK headed initially by the Independent Network (which is not a political party) and most recently by the Jury Team. These movements hope to create a Parliament more accountable to the electorate by helping independent candidates get elected.
Read more about this topic: Politics Of Europe, Secessionist and Devolutionary Pressures
Famous quotes containing the words united and/or kingdom:
“On the whole, yes, I would rather be the Chief Justice of the United States, and a quieter life than that which becomes at the White House is more in keeping with the temperament, but when taken into consideration that I go into history as President, and my children and my children’s children are the better placed on account of that fact, I am inclined to think that to be President well compensates one for all the trials and criticisms he has to bear and undergo.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)
“How we dwelt in two worlds
the daughters and the mothers
in the kingdom of the sons.”
—Adrienne Rich (b. 1929)