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Over the past two decades, devolution in Wales has undergone a remarkable transformation. A Welsh Assembly endorsed by a margin of just 6,721 votes in the 1997 referendum, and which was legally fused with the ‘executive’ branch of devolved government and had no primary legislative powers has become a primary law making and tax levying parliament. This article will chart the evolution of Welsh devolution since 1999 and the role that the centre’s grudging and conservative approach to devolution and the conferred powers model has played in the failure to secure a lasting settlement for Wales. It will argue that despite the transformation in Welsh devolution since 1999, and the shift to a reserved powers model in 2017, a ‘conferred powers mindset’ has continued to haunt Welsh devolution as a result of the approach taken by the United Kingdom Government in drafting the extensive set of reserved powers.
