Constitutional Convention

When a government implements a manifesto pledge through legislation, the legal position is straightforward: the result is an Act of Parliament like any other. The harder question is whether its electoral pedigree should matter. Does the fact that a … [Read more...] about What is the Constitutional Status of Manifesto Commitments?

Supporters of assisted dying are resigning themselves to defeat amid concerns that the landmark legislation passed by the Commons will almost definitely run out of time in the Lords. Alongside other developments, this has sparked renewed hostility … [Read more...] about Is the House of Lords Overplaying its Hand?

In the King’s Speech the new Labour government introduced 40 bills that will form the core of Westminster’s legislative business for the next year. In the House of Commons, the government possesses a 174-seat majority, all but guaranteeing the … [Read more...] about What is the Salisbury-Addison Convention?

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

Introduction In late 2023, the UK Supreme Court (UKSC) handed down their judgment in the case of R (SAA) v Secretary of State for the Home Department. In a unanimous judgment, the UKSC held that the Home Secretary’s policy that certain people … [Read more...] about The Rwanda bill: A constitutional tipping point? 

Last month, Rishi Sunak’s decision to conduct airstrikes against the Houthis in Yemen sparked significant debate – not only about the merits of such actions, but also about their constitutionality. Several opposition politicians – including Scottish … [Read more...] about Towards the codification of war powers?

In November of 2023 I was delighted to be appointed as a Research Fellow for the Constitution Society. My work for the Society will compare the operation of constitutions in the UK and Sri Lanka. In this blog, I explore the interactions between … [Read more...] about Balancing accountability and stability: A comparison of 2022 Executive Resignations in the United Kingdom and Sri Lanka

Introduction This is a blog about the constitutional issues at stake when it comes to the self-selecting memberships of political parties choosing party leaders and thus Prime Ministers.[1] As this blog is being drafted, there is some … [Read more...] about Choosing party leaders

The defenestration of Suella Braverman from the Home Office, after the Fareham MP wrote a wildcat Times article criticising the police’s handling of pro-Palestinian protests, has highlighted the delicate and ill-defined relationship between the … [Read more...] about The police and the constitution

This is the final instalment of four pieces on the place and function of royal commissions, you can find the previous blogs HERE.  Anyone who has listened to recent evidence coming out of the Covid Inquiry will be struck by just how … [Read more...] about Royal Commissions Part Four: Once and Future Royal Commissions?

In the first of this series of blogs I pointed out the surge of interest in, and demands for, Royal Commissions on various topics, even though they have not been used as an instrument of policy formation or constitutional reform for more than two … [Read more...] about Royal Commissions Part Three: Constitutional Reform

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