Discussion of Royal Commissions has resurfaced in the past few years. In their 2019 Election Manifesto, for example, the Conservative Party promised to set up a Royal Commission on the criminal justice system (they haven’t). They also promised a … [Read more...] about Royal Commissions Part One – “a subject wrapped in a haze of common knowledge”?
To understand the significance of reshuffles, we must first understand the motivations of the Prime Minister enacting them. The primary one of all Prime Ministers is to maintain power, and this can be achieved by winning elections and fending off … [Read more...] about The Complex Implications of Reshuffles
The House of Lords Appointments Commission (HOLAC) hasn’t often featured in the news in its 23-year history. To be sure, there have been on-going controversies over appointments to the Lords, but recently there have been a series of controversies in … [Read more...] about House of Lords Appointments Commission (HOLAC) – Chronicle of a Death Foretold?
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
Human rights lawyers across the UK rejoiced recently as Dominic Raab’s Bill of Rights Bill appeared to be consigned to the dustbin of history. At the same time, recent analysis from Alice Donald and Joelle Grogan revealed the UK’s … [Read more...] about Death by a Thousand Cuts: The Human Rights Act
Review of Richard Johnson and Yuan Yi Zhu, Sceptical Perspectives on the Changing Constitution of the United Kingdom (Bloomsbury, 2023) It is by now a truism that the Brexit referendum of 2016 brought constitutional issues to the fore of … [Read more...] about More Bonaparte than Bagehot
In 1647 the Putney Debates brought people together to discuss the future of democracy following the victory of the Parliamentarians in the English Civil War. On 24th March 2023, The Constitution Society brought together academics and constitutional … [Read more...] about Conference review – A crisis in UK democracy?
As another Budget Day comes around, the media focus is inevitably on its contents. But, despite this frenzy, the constitutional and conventional context of the Budget remains poorly understood. This is perhaps understandable as the processes and … [Read more...] about The Budget – getting and spending
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
A lot can happen in a short space of time. The Truss administration lasted just forty-four days. Time enough though to crash the economy and end up sacking yourself. In my recent book The Trials of Charles I (Bloomsbury, 2022), I have … [Read more...] about The trials of King Charles I
Some believe that discussion of constitutional matters amounts to little more than a diversion from people’s real concerns, such as the cost-of-living crisis, jobs and the parlous state of the health service. However, it is misleading to suggest … [Read more...] about Constitutional change is unfinished business in the UK
The self-inflicted difficulties of the Liz Truss government have a variety of constitutional dimensions. The advent of an administration willing and able to embark upon the recent disastrous course of action is attributable in part to various … [Read more...] about The constitution and the fiscal statement disaster
