The fallout from Brexit, a global pandemic and the continuing possibility of Scottish independence has made for a political landscape in the UK that is under acute pressure. Against this backdrop, and in her role as co-chair, Laura McAllister of Cardiff University’s Wales Governance Centre explains why Wales has made a conscious decision to take hold of its own destiny with the formation of a new independent Commission to review its constitutional future.

We are in the middle of some of the biggest political changes of a generation. As the UK deals with new post-Brexit realities, copes with rising challenges around the Northern Ireland border and anticipates a second Scottish independence referendum, the union of the four nations is under threat as never before.

Wales’s political history has often seen us standing on the sidelines, reacting to events seemingly beyond our control. The newly formed Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales offers an opportunity to change this dynamic.

We intend to lead a national conversation about how Wales should be governed, enabling the people of Wales to take decisions into their own hands, guided by their ambitions for the kind of country they want to live in.

My co-chair Dr Rowan Williams, a former Archbishop of Canterbury, and I have been given a hugely exciting opportunity to press for meaningful change to the constitutional future of Wales – to help develop fit-for-purpose, sustainable and popular models of governance for our nation.

What are the Commission’s objectives?

Our two main objectives are broad and far-reaching, rightly so in order to be able to explore the whole suite of potential options for constitutional reform.

The first is to develop options for fundamental reform of the constitutional structures of the United Kingdom, in which Wales remains a part. The second is to consider and develop all progressive principal options to strengthen Welsh democracy and deliver improvements for the people of Wales.