User:DeCausa/sandbox

=Map=

Administrative divisions and devolution
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have two levels of governance: devolved and local government. England, on the other hand, has only the local government level.

A devolution process, beginning in 1998, established a government and legislature for each of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. In England, where 84% of the UK population lives, some elements of devolution were implemented on a much more limited and localised basis but not a government and legislature. For that reason, the UK's system of governance is said to be asymmetrical.

Local government in the UK has a long history and some aspects have their origins in the middle ages. Based on elected councils serving their local communities, its primary function is to provide a wide range of everyday but essential public services.

England
England is not administered as a single political unit. As there are no devolved England-wide institutions, the UK parliament legislates on matters only affecting England and the UK government acts as England's executive. The UK government departments responsible for areas that are devolved matters for the other UK countries – such as environment, food and rural affairs, health, transport and education – are, in practice, largely England-only departments.

The structure of local government in England is complex. Most of the country is divided into counties administered by elected councils with a further sub-division into a lower tier of district councils. In addition, cities, larger urban areas and some counties only have a single tier and are referred to as unitary authorities. London, however, has a two-tiered structure comprising the Greater London Authority and elected London Assembly with a lower tier of London boroughs.

At the same time as the other devolution measures were put in place, a limited form of devolution was implemented in London where the directly-elected Mayor of London was given certain enhanced executive powers. This was followed by the creation of eleven Combined Authorities outside of London, each combining a number of council areas, with similarly enhanced executive powers. Ten of the authorities now have directly-elected "Metro Mayors" on the London model. This has meant that a form of devolved governance, however limited, now covers 41% of the population of England.

Scotland
Established in 1999, the Scottish Government and parliament has wide-ranging powers over any matter that has not been specifically reserved to the UK Parliament. The main areas reserved relate to foreign affairs and defence, but also specific aspects of financial and economic affairs, trade and industry, energy and transport and other matters. Since its establishment further powers have been transferred to the Scottish parliament. In particular, an extension of powers over taxation has meant that the Scottish Parliament will be responsible for raising nearly 50% of its budget. However, the parliament's responsibility for economic issues has been limited by the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020.

The current Scottish Government is a Scottish National Party and Scottish Greens coalition, led by First Minister Humza Yousaf, leader of the Scottish National Party. In 2014, the Scottish independence referendum was held, with 55.3% voting against independence from the United Kingdom and 44.7% voting in favour, resulting in Scotland staying within the United Kingdom. Local government in Scotland is divided into 32 council areas with a wide variation in size and population. Local councils are made up of elected councillors, of whom there are 1,223.

Local government in Scotland is divided into 32 council areas with a wide variation in size and population. The cities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee are separate council areas, as is the Highland Council, which includes a third of Scotland's area but only just over 200,000 people. Local councils are made up of elected councillors, of whom there are 1,223.

Wales
Since 1999, Wales has a devolved national government and legislature, known as the Senedd. Elections to the Senedd use the additional member system. They have more limited powers than those devolved to Scotland. The Senedd is able to legislate on any matter not specifically reserved to the UK Parliament through Acts of Senedd Cymru. The current Welsh Government is Labour, led by First Minister Vaughan Gething, who has been the First Minister since 2024.

Local government in Wales consists of 22 unitary authorities, each led by a leader and cabinet elected by the council itself. These include the cities of Cardiff, Swansea and Newport, which are unitary authorities in their own right. Elections are held every four years under the first-past-the-post system.

Northern Ireland
The devolved form of government in Northern Ireland is based on the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, which brought to an end a 30-year period of unionist-nationalist communal conflict known as The Troubles. The Agreement was confirmed by referendum and implemented later that year. It established power sharing arrangements for a devolved government and legislature, referred to as the Executive and Assembly respectively. Elections to the Assembly use the single transferable vote system. The Executive and Assembly have powers similar to those devolved to Scotland. The Executive is led by a diarchy representing unionist and nationalist members of the Assembly. The First Minister and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland are the joint heads of government of Northern Ireland.

Local government in Northern Ireland since 1973, has been organised into 26 district councils, each elected by single transferable vote. Their powers are limited to services such as waste collection, dog control, and maintaining parks and cemeteries. In 2008 the executive agreed on proposals to create 11 new councils and replace the present system.

later
continuity of unit post conquest.

=Draft 1= The first known use of the title 'prince of Wales' was in the 1160s by Owain Gwynedd, ruler of Gwynedd, in a letter to Louis VII of France. In the 12th century, Wales was a patchwork of Anglo-Norman lordships and native Welsh principalities – notably Deheubarth, Powys and Gwynedd – competing among themselves for hegemony. Owain's aim in using the title in his letter to Louis was probably to claim pre-eminence over the other native Welsh rulers. Following Owain's death in 1170 no other ruler, with the exception of Rhys ap Gruffydd of Deheubarth, is known to have adopted the title until 1245. Rhys used several titles, sometimes concurrently, and in two charters from the 1180s he is referred to as 'prince of Wales' or 'prince of the Welsh'.

The title was revived in 1245 when Dafydd ap Llywelyn, ruler of Gwynedd, began using it in the final months of his reign. In the intervening years, Owen Gwynedd's successors in Gwynedd, including Dafydd, had, instead, adopted the titles 'prince of North Wales' or 'prince of Aberffraw and lord of Snowdon'.

However, it is in the reign of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Dafydd's nephew and successor in Gwynedd, that the title is consistently used over an extended period. From 1261 to his death in 1282, Llywelyn used no other style except 'prince of Wales and lord of Snowdon'. This was accompanied by Llywelyn making the principality of Wales (encompassing Gwynedd, Deheubarth, Powys and parts of the Marches) a political reality. He had achieved this by significantly expanding his directly ruled territories into mid- and south Wales and inducing all the other remaining native Welsh rulers to do him homage and acknowledge him as overlord by 1263. Additionally, Llywelyn developed governance structures which made his authority effective across the entire principality of Wales, including in the territories of the Welsh rulers that owed him allegiance. The process culminated with Henry III of England recognising his title and authority in the Treaty of Montgomery of 1267. As J. Beverley Smith has noted, Llywelyn's title "at once, acknowledged and proclaimed a status unique in Welsh political history".

Llywelyn's principality was destroyed as a result of the conquest of Wales by Edward I (1277-1283), during which Llewylyn was killed in 1282. After his death, his brother, Dafydd, adopted Llywelyn's title and continued resistance for a few months. However, Dafydd was defeated and executed in 1283 and the principality was permanently annexed by Edward I.

note
I've WP:BOLDly re-written this sub-section for the following reasons:
 * It was inaccurate eg Llywelyn ab Iorwerth never used the Prince of Wales title.
 * The potted bios of each of the princes aren't relevant to this article. What needs to be discussed is specifically how the prince of Wales title was used in relation to each of them - this article is about the title. (Per WP:SUMMARYSTYLE readers can click through to the bios).

DeCausa (talk) 23:19, 20 November 2023 (UTC)

Draft 2
Until the middle of the 12th century, the multiplicity of native Welsh rulers used a variety of titles in the Welsh language, all of which were translated into Latin as rex or 'king'. However, these titles were gradually replaced with the title 'prince'. 'Prince', in Latin princeps, with its Roman echoes and literal meaning of "principal ruler", at this time suggested a higher status than the ubiquitous and possibly devalued rex. The rulers of Gwynedd were, from the early 13th century, the first consistently to use the new title, ostensibly with the aim of asserting their pre-eminence amongst the Welsh rulers.

In the 12th and 13th centuries the Welsh rulers gradually adopted the title princeps or 'prince' in place of rex or 'king'. The number of Welsh kings, the title rex had lost its distinctiveness. Although conventionally a prince is of a lower status, in the Welsh context of the time, initially it signified a differentiation from the other rulers in Wales and, therefore, a claim of pre-eminence.

The first known use of the title 'prince of Wales' was by Owain Gwynedd, in about 1165, letters to Louis VII of France.

Post-conquest claimants
In the fourteenth century, two pretenders to the title of 'prince of Wales' attempted to make good their claims: Owain Lawgoch, a descendant of the princes of Gwynedd, and Owain Glyndŵr, whose ancestors included the former rulers of Powys and Deheubarth. Owain Lawgoch's abortive attempt at invading Wales in 1372 was followed by Glyddŵr's much more serious revolt beginning in 1400. Although the revolt began with Glyndŵr's supporters proclaiming him 'prince of Wales' it is unclear how important this was in his initial motivation. By 1401 he appeared to have dropped the claim to the title. However, with the rebellion's military successes of 1402-1403, his ambitions grew as did his support within the Welsh population. In 1404 he had himself crowned as prince of Wales and he began putting in place the state institutions of a new principality. This phase of the rebellion was short-lived. From 1406, the rebellion began to fail militarily, and, from 1409, Glyndŵr had to exchange the trappings of a ruling prince for a hunted outlaw. He died probably around 1415.

=Brunodam=

User:Brunodam
 * Sockpuppet investigations/Brunodam/Archive
 * Boca Raton IP: Bruno D’Ambrosio, University “di Genova”