§ Lord Kilclooneyasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the population of (a) Scotland; (b) Wales; (c) Northern Ireland; and how many Members are elected to each of their devolved parliamentary institutions. [HL513]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs (Lord Filkin)The population of Scotland is 5,062,011; Wales 2,903,085; and Northern Ireland 1,687,267. These figures are taken from the 2001 census.
Scotland has 129 MSPs of which 73 are constituency members and 56 list members; Wales has 60 AMs of which 40 are constituency members and 20 list members; and Northern Ireland has 108 members, six from each of the 18 constituencies.
The size of the membership of each of the devolved administrations reflects the responsibilities of the respective institutions, not just the size of the population.
The electoral arrangements for each of the devolved administrations are set out respectively in the Scotland Act 1998, the Northern Ireland Act 1998 and the Government of Wales Act 1998.