On 29 January, a vacancy appeared on the government’s public appointments website which stood out from the list of otherwise rather unremarkable job adverts. The Judicial Appointments Commission is seeking a new chair. The next day, the JAC’s own … [Read more...] about Who Appoints Our Judges? Inside the Judicial Appointments Commission
The starting gun on the next general election has yet to be fired, but party apparatchiks have already spent years fighting a hidden campaign: not over votes, but cold, hard cash. As party HQs woo the wealthy, party members across the country have … [Read more...] about Reforming Party Funding: No Silver Bullets
The unexpected resurrection of David Cameron’s political career in the closing weeks of 2023 reopened a long-standing constitutional controversy. There is a convention that all government ministers must sit in either the Commons or the Lords, … [Read more...] about Bring on the Goats: ‘Outsider’ ministers are a good idea: their peerages are otiose
Five years ago, when I was working full-time at the Constitution Society, we received an unusual missive in the post. A man had written to us explaining that as the UK government had failed to uphold the rights established by the Magna Carta, it had … [Read more...] about The rise of constitutional conspiracism
In many countries the independence of the central bank is a constitutional priority, explicitly laid out and safeguarded in the supreme law of the land. Kenya’s constitution, for example, declares that the central bank ‘shall not be under the … [Read more...] about The Bank and the constitution
This blog describes how constitutional provisions in five countries limit the use of delegated legislation. Delegated legislation in the UK is usually described as legislation that is created as a result of Parliament giving away rule-making powers … [Read more...] about Constitutional Provisions Limiting Delegated Legislation
What to say about the UK's whipping system, apart from the fact that one of Boris Johnson's former aides has just made it the subject of what the Guardian describes as a 'Jilly Cooper-esque satire'? My research for the Constitution … [Read more...] about Cracking the whip: the UK’s party control system
It is broadly accepted that parliamentary scrutiny of legislation is a ‘good’ thing and that, if possible, there should be more of it. It is also broadly accepted that it is often ineffective and wrongfully subverted. As a result, most commentaries … [Read more...] about The purpose of legislative scrutiny
The decision of Sue Gray – a Senior Civil Servant – to leave the Service and accept a job offer from the Labour Party to become Sir Keir Starmer’s Chief of Staff has sparked a great deal of controversy. All sorts of allegations have been thrown … [Read more...] about Sue Gray and the Labour Party
Amidst the waves of criticism of Israel’s proposed reforms to the judicial system, British constitutional scholars have had to deal with a slight sense of embarrassment. The proposals by the government of Binyamin Netanyahu have, at their … [Read more...] about A fair comparison? Israel’s reforms and the UK
The Constitution Society is delighted to announce the publication of Climate change, the courts and the constitution. In his comprehensive report, Joshua Kimblin surveys how the legal mechanisms of environmental and climate accountability have … [Read more...] about Published: Climate change, the courts and the constitution
The Moment of Brexit There are two interpretations of what followed the 2016 Brexit referendum. One (the predominant view) is that Theresa May, and especially Boris Johnson, got it all wrong: they should have called a second … [Read more...] about Why the United Kingdom needs a written constitution
