ACOBA is dead. The Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, born in 1975, died aged 50, quietly in October 2025. Few mourned, or probably even noticed, its passing. It was rarely news-worthy, except in failure, especially in its later years due … [Read more...] about Farewell to the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments
Since the 2019 General Election, sixteen Members of Parliament have been suspended from the House of Commons, with some suspended for up to six weeks. Of that number, three were subsequently recalled by their constituents, and one more, the MP for … [Read more...] about Why are suspensions from the Commons on the rise?
When an updated version of the Ministerial Code was published last month, most of the headlines focused on the idea that the under-pressure Prime Minister had watered down the Code in order to save his own skin. As constitutional observers were quick … [Read more...] about Upholding standards in public life: the presidential and ‘pragmatic populist’ challenges
Earlier this week, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party (and shadow minister of too many things to list) Angela Rayner gave a speech at the Institute for Government (IfG) outlining the party’s plans to clean up politics. Rayner attacked the current … [Read more...] about Labour’s plans to clean up politics
