I owe a debt to Jim Bulpitt and Barry Jones, who originally stimulated my interest in studying the territorial politics of the UK. Their passion for innovative scholarship and research was an inspiration to everyone who worked with them. I owe a subsequent general academic debt to the participants in the conferences and panels of the Political Studies Association specialist group on territorial politics. I have gained much from hearing about their research, as well as from their feedback on mine. One also, of course, learns from one's colleagues who research all sorts of things, and in this respect I’ve gained much from departmental seminars and sessions of the Political Analysis and Governance Research Group at Swansea University. Equally, teaching pushes you in a wide range of directions, and I happily acknowledge the great enjoyment I have had over many years from taking student classes in my final year module, The National Assembly for Wales (now Senedd Cymru/Welsh Parliament), and Masters module, Devolution in Comparative Perspective. Ultimately, this book commits to a particular line of analysis. I am grateful for the comments of the anonymous external reviewer and I hope the book reflects the benefits of the challenges he/she posed. I take full responsibility for the views presented and any factual errors that may remain. Stephen Wenham at Bristol University Press commissioned this book, and I am grateful both to him and Caroline Astley at BUP for their professional advice, patience and support. Finally, I would like to thank Kate, Matthew and Thomas. This book was completed during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in the first half of 2020. In many ways it has been a collective effort.