This report is the sixth released by the United Kingdom Constitution Monitoring Group. It covers the 12 months of July 2023 to July 2024 and consequently the last year in office of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative government. While this period in some ways marked a departure from the Johnson and Truss administrations in terms of overall governmental stability, the report shows certain unfortunate trends continue. Such trends appear consistently throughout the report and span the seven key areas identified by this Group:
- Integrity in Public Life: The report highlights recurring ethical lapses within government, including during the recent general election campaign, where questionable claims were made regarding taxation under a future Labour government. The actions of Wales’ First Minister Vaughan Gething also attracted significant criticism, damaging the integrity of the office and of the Senedd.
- Constitutional Change Process: The passage of the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Act 2024 marked a low point in constitutional process in the period covered in the report, where the Act sidestepped key constitutional conventions and undermined the UK on the international stage.
- Elections: July’s general election was the first since repealing the Fixed-term Parliaments Act. This shift allowed the calling of the election in a way which caused disruptions in legislative processes, suggesting more must be done in future to ensure stability in electoral arrangements, the report argues.
- Legislatures: The report notes the loss of significant parliamentary business as a result of the unexpected calling of the general election.
- Ministers and the Civil Service: Breaches of collective responsibility, particularly by Suella Braverman as Home Secretary, weakened the principle of cabinet collective responsibility. The UKCMG also calls attention to the detrimental effects of public questioning at ministerial level of the integrity of the Civil Service which occurred in the report period.
- The Territorial Constitution: The report welcomes the return of a functioning devolved legislature and executive in Northern Ireland, but warns the UK government’s deal with DUP came at the cost of full maintenance of rigorous impartiality. This in turn potentially risks aspects of the 1998 Agreement.
- Judiciary and the Rule of Law: Legislation during the report period, notably the Rwanda Act and Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Act, highlighted a concerning trend of legislative interference with judicial rulings, threatening the separation of powers and judicial independence in the UK.
When taken together these developments across seven areas mark a concerning continuation in trends which have weakened the UK’s uncodified constitution. These issues are explored in detail across the report which is now available to read in its entirety.
The United Kingdom Constitution Monitoring Group.
This publication presents the personal views of the author and not those of The Constitution Society, which publishes it as a contribution to debate on this important subject.