It is with great sadness that we must announce the death of Dr Bob Morris on 16 May. He was 87. Not only was Bob the oldest contributor to the work of the Constitution Unit, he was also one of the longest serving, having worked with us for almost 30 years. This was almost as long as his preceding time in the Home Office, where he served for close to 40 years. We cannot trace exactly when Bob’s involvement with the Unit began, but its current Director, Meg Russell, recalls that when she joined in 1998, he was on the panel which recruited her (to lead a project on the lessons for Lords reform of second chambers overseas). 

Although an Honorary Senior Research Associate who served in a voluntary capacity, and part time, with many other interests, Bob’s contribution to the Unit’s work and the number of his publications would do credit to a full time academic. Our website records the full list: four books of which he was editor or co-editor, eight Constitution Unit reports, a dozen journal articles, and numerous blog posts. The journals where he chose to publish record where his primary interests lay: the Ecclesiastical Law Journal, Journal of Church and State, Law and Justice. 

Church and State 

Bob’s interest in Church and State derived from his previous experience. In his last position in the Home Office he had been Assistant Under-Secretary of State responsible for constitutional matters, including relations with the Palace and the Church. On retirement from the Home Office he crossed the river to become the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Acting Secretary for Public Affairs in Lambeth Palace. He was also Secretary to the Review of the See of Canterbury chaired by former Home Secretary Douglas Hurd, whose report (written by Bob) was published as To Lead and to Serve in 2001. 

Within the Constitution Unit Bob single handedly developed a whole new work programme on Church and State, exploring the implications of disestablishing the Church of England. This began with a mapping exercise, explaining the different strands of establishment (Church and State: A Mapping Exercise, 2006), and ended with a report in 2008 titled Some Reflections on Church Establishment in England. Bob’s reflections included challenging the Church’s frequent assertion that establishment was a seamless robe, so that if one thread were unpicked, the whole garment would unravel. And he added two words of warning. The first was that establishment is a relationship, which like all relationships needed nurturing to remain lively and meaningful. The second was to warn the Church that the state was losing interest in the relationship, with a risk of it doing something clumsy or negligent; the Church might want to consider loosening some of the threads itself to ensure it was master of its own destiny.  

At the same time Bob joined a small team of former civil servants who worked for the Unit by delivering training to government departments to help them prepare for the implementation of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Bob was a leading member of the team, as shown by the number of his clients: the Home Office, Foreign Office, Information Commissioner, Housing Corporation, General Medical Council, Assets Recovery Agency, Security Industry Authority, Independent Police Complaints Commission, and the staffs of both Houses of Parliament. And typical of Bob’s generosity, the fees which he earned from this training and consultancy work were all donated to the Unit. 

Coronation and Accession Oaths 

As the late Queen’s reign drew to a close, Bob’s interest in Church and State developed a new focus, on the need to update the Accession and Coronation oaths before the accession of a new monarch. The statutory oaths (which require the monarch to be Protestant, exclude Catholics from the throne, and privilege the Church of England) are anachronistic, dating back to the seventeenth century, when Catholic Europe was seen as an existential threat to the security of the realm. In typical Bob fashion, he embarked on a very thorough consultation exercise, with an initial private seminar asking 25 experts (ecclesiastical lawyers, historians, Church representatives and those representing other faiths) whether the oaths needed revising and updating. When we went round the table at the end, the vote was 24:1 in favour. That led to the next phase, when we considered different ways in which the oaths might be revised and updated, and held a second private seminar to critique our drafts. The result was published as Swearing in the new King: the Accession Declarations and Coronation Oaths (2018). But from his delving into the Archives at Kew Bob had got so interested in the arrangements for previous coronations that he could not resist publishing a companion report, Inaugurating a new Reign: Planning the Accession and Coronation. 

Comparative study of European monarchies 

The British monarch is not alone in being head of an established church: similar arrangements exist in the Lutheran countries of Denmark, Sweden and Norway. That prompted a wider interest in the other constitutional monarchies of Europe, which we explored at a conference convened at the Royal Foundation of St Katharine, a very suitable venue found by Bob thanks to his Church connections. Political science has a blind spot about monarchy, and in our (now open access) book, The Role of Monarchy in Modern Democracy (2020), we found ourselves developing new theory to explain not just the longevity of European monarchies, but their extraordinary popularity: they command approval ratings which, as we say in the book, politicians would die for. Part of the explanation lies in the paradox that a hereditary institution like monarchy can be surprisingly accountable: we found four instances of monarchs being forced to abdicate in the last 100 years, and 18 referendums being held in nine different European countries on whether the monarchy should continue, or be revived. 

The comparative study of European monarchies was the last book which Bob produced with the Unit, but not the last book which he published. He had always had other academic interests. Soon after leaving the Home Office he did a PhD on relations between the Metropolitan Police and the government 1860-1920, leading later to an edited book, Reforming the Police in the Nineteenth Century (2014). His very last book took him back to the Home Office, with publication of the transcripts of a series of private witness seminars which he had organised with the Institute of Contemporary British History. It appeared last year as The Home Office 1782-2007: from Prerogative to Precept, and was launched at a seminar jointly hosted by the Permanent Secretaries of the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice: a great tribute to Bob’s continuing standing in Whitehall.  

Bob’s wider contribution 

Bob played an important part in the wider work of the Unit, writing articles for the press, appearing frequently on radio and TV, giving evidence to parliamentary committees and briefing journalists with his usual patience and courtesy. Since 2021, he racked up over 100 appearances and mentions in the media, sharing his expertise. He was a regular presence at Unit seminars and similar events, where he could be relied upon to ask shrewd questions, and bring the discussion back on track. At in-person events he would always stay to mingle afterwards, particularly with the younger and newer members of the Unit.  

On his final retirement Meg Russell and the Unit’s Impact Research Fellow Rowan Hall compiled a book of testimonials to Bob. Just a few extracts give a sense of Bob’s warmth and good humour, and his generosity in sharing his immense learning and experience with us all: 

What an absolute pleasure and privilege it was to work with you all those years ago! You were so very kind and generous with me, and you were a role model in how you worked with me and coached me – the experience of which I have drawn on often since. 

You were the voice of reason, the wise counsel… You always had a smile, a twinkle in your eye, and a kind word as you spoke, but you commanded respect for your intellect and the breadth and depth of your knowledge about how government actually worked.

Your friendliness and expertise helped shape the positive culture of the Unit over many years.

You combine an elegance of expression with a scepticism and worldly wisdom which will stand the test of time as the paragon of the British public servant.

Your contributions as a supportive and engaged member of the Unit’s broader community were always clear; if you have managed to be as present recently at Unit events as you were at the turn of the century, you will be doubly missed.

Bob will indeed be hugely missed. He was steadfast and loyal to all the institutions for which he worked; unfailingly reliable, courteous and good humoured, and immensely generous with his time as well as his wisdom and experience. Bob was still briefing journalists on behalf of the Unit within months of his death. He lived an extraordinarily full, active and useful life, right up until the end.  

About the author

Robert Hazell is Professor of Government and the Constitution at UCL and the former Director of the Constitution Unit.