The United Kingdom remains united. In a historic vote earlier this week, the Scots and the Welsh held elections to select representatives for their own newly created Parliaments. Preliminary results indicate that the Labor Party will hold the most seats in the new legislature sitting in Edinburgh, but it will not command a majority. It is expected to form a coalition government with the Liberal Democratic Party, although party officials have refused to speculate. In Wales, Labor also holds a commanding lead and might even claim a majority. In both houses, nationalist parties will have a strong presence, but they will be in the opposition. British Prime Minister Tony Blair has gambled and won.
The Welsh lost their self-rule over 500 years ago. Scotland became part of the United Kingdom under the Act of Union in 1707. In both cases, relations with England have been tangled and frequently bloody. Even after centuries of English dominance, the two subject peoples each retained a distinctive national identity and a smoldering resentment of London.
Mr. Blair hoped to quiet some of the ill feeling and strengthen support for Labor in two of the party's traditional strongholds. He bet that voters wanted more power, but that they would be unwilling to opt for complete independence. He appears to have been right.