Following the Unit’s January seminar, Can the House of Commons handle multi-party politics?, panellist Louise Thompson explains the procedural and logistical obstacles facing small parties in the House of Commons. She calls for parliamentary institutions to adapt their processes, and concludes that formalising some current informal arrangements and looking at ways to increase equalities of opportunity across all opposition parties would be sensible next steps.
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On 24 October, the Constitution Unit hosted an event asking whether the government’s electoral reforms go far enough. A common theme that emerged was that the government should go further than its current plans. Rowan Hall summarises the contributions, which are available in full on YouTube and as an episode of our podcast.
Continue readingThe Constitution Unit’s annual conference took place on 18 and 19 June. Politicians and experts, including nine MPs, came together to discuss constitutional paths taken and not (yet) taken by this government. Rowan Hall summarises their contributions across the six sessions, which are available in full on YouTube and as episodes of our podcast.
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The Constitution Unit’s annual conference takes place next week, bringing together a wide range of speakers to discuss ‘Labour’s Constitutional Agenda in Office’. Starting with a keynote address by Minister for the Cabinet Office Nick Thomas-Symonds, the conference will assess Labour’s performance so far, and its options for the future, across a range of constitutional policy areas. Ahead of the conference, Lisa James analyses the progress so far against the commitments in Labour’s manifesto.
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Today the Unit published Monitor 89, providing an analysis of constitutional events over the last four months. This post by Alan Renwick and Meg Russell, which also serves as the issue’s lead article, highlights welcome action by the government on devolution, commitment to the rule of law and the removal of hereditary peers from the House of Lords, but calls for stronger action on wider Lords reform, progress on the promised Ethics and Integrity Commission, and action on the pre-election pledge to strengthen parliamentary scrutiny of legislation. It warns that the governments of the UK must strive to maintain healthy checks and balances, avoid polarisation, and foster open political discourse at a time when events in the US are showing the dangers of not doing so.
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