The Constitution Unit

The UK’s ‘devolution settlement’ is unsettled. Alternative visions abound for how to achieve stability: through ‘muscular unionism’; by reforming intergovernmental relations; through wholesale federalisation; or by breaking up the Union. What is the current state of each of these options? How are they likely to develop in the foreseeable future? In so far as they are implemented, what impacts are...

Northern Ireland finds itself again without a functioning Executive or Assembly. All mainstream voices agree that the 1998 Belfast/Good Friday Agreement offers the only viable framework for politics in Northern Ireland in the coming years, but the risk of breakdown is severe. How can Northern Ireland’s power-sharing arrangements be restored in the coming months? How far are solutions to be found i...

The Johnson premiership has sparked numerous concerns about constitutional standards – from respect for checks and balances and the rule of law, to standards of behaviour among ministers, officials, and parliamentarians. A major review by the Committee on Standards in Public Life in 2021 proposed significant change. These debates take place within a wider framework of concern about ‘democratic bac...

May 2022 marked the 25th anniversary of the election of Tony Blair's first Labour government. It entered office with an ambitious set of manifesto proposals for constitutional reform. These included devolution in Scotland, Wales and London, a new settlement for Northern Ireland, the Human Rights Act, Freedom of Information Act, Lords reform, regulation of elections and referendums, and a referendu...

In this episode, Professor Alan Renwick is joined by Senior Research Associate Alan Whysall, and  Professor Etain Tannam, Associate Professor of International Peace Studies at Trinity College Dublin to discuss the implications of the Assembly elections for the future of power-sharing and the institutional arrangements in Northern Ireland. Read further about these themes in Alan Whysall's discussio...

Recent years have raised fundamental questions about the operation of democracy in the UK. Polarisation is high and many citizens feel detached from politics. The ethical standards of those in public life have been called into question. Governing and opposition parties throughout the UK have pledged to review the system’s operation. But how do ordinary citizens want democracy in the UK to work? Th...

If Boris Johnson leaves office before the next general election, Conservative Party members will have a decisive say in who replaces him as party leader and Prime Minister. This prospect raises the wider question of what role ordinary members should play in party leadership elections. The UK has seen extensive variation in the role of ordinary grassroots members, as compared to MPs, in leadership...

Recent years have raised fundamental questions about the kind of democracy that people in the UK want. How do they think government and parliament should relate to each other? What role do they want for the courts? Do they want more or fewer referendums? What standards of behaviour do they expect from their politicians, and how do they expect those standards to be upheld? These and many other rela...

There are regular calls for reform of the House of Lords. The chamber is widely seen as too large, with unregulated prime ministerial appointments, and has recently been subject to renewed allegations of 'cash for peerages'. The Lord Speaker established a committee to make recommendations on controlling the chamber's size, but its recommendations have been flouted by the current Prime Minister. Bo...

Professor Tim Bale’s book, 'Riding the Populist Wave', highlights how mainstream right-wing parties across Europe – including the UK Conservatives – have faced challenges responding to electoral pressure from the populist radical right. How such parties respond may have important implications for everyday politics, and raise concerns about the robustness of constitutional protections, and even of...

In 2020, the Committee on Standards in Public Life (CSPL) launched its Standards Matter 2 review to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the mechanisms to support high standards of conduct in public life. In June 2021, CSPL published initial findings from the review, and its final report and recommendations on 1 November 2021. CSPL’s chair, Lord (Jonathan) Evans, will talk about the review and...

Parliament is scrutinising two sets of government proposals relating to elections: the Elections Bill and the draft Online Safety Bill. Some aspects of both measures have been widely welcomed, but others are controversial. Will tighter parliamentary control over the Electoral Commission harm that body’s independence? Will voter ID requirements reduce access to the ballot? Does the Bill deal effect...

Dr Harshan Kumarasingham and Prof Robert Hazell (Constitution Unit) in discussion with Prof Linda Colley FBA about her latest book on warfare, constitutions and the making of the modern world. Speakers: Prof Linda Colley FBA, Shelby M.C. Davis 1958 Professor of History at Princeton University and Dr Harshan Kumarasingham, Senior Lecturer in British Politics at the University of Edinburgh Chair: Pr...

This is a recording of a panel session from our conference on the government's constitutional reform agenda. Panellists explored the devolution arrangements in the UK and the future of the Union. Four experts based in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland joined the discussion. Speakers:  Prof Adam Tomkins, Glasgow Prof Laura McAllister, Cardiff Prof Katy Hayward, Queen’s University Belfas...

This is a recording of a panel session from our conference looking at the government's constitutional reform agenda. The panel discussed the government's review of administrative law and programme for reform of human rights and the judiciary.   Speakers: Lord Faulks QC, Chair of Independent Review of Administrative Law Prof Kate O’Regan, Director of Bonavero Institute of Human Rights, Oxford Joshu...

This is a recording of a panel session from our conference looking at the government's constitutional reform agenda. The panel discussed why political campaigning regulations aren't fit for purpose in a digital era and how regulations should be updated.  Speakers:   John Pullinger, Chair of Electoral Commission Dr Kate Dommett, Sheffield Prof Rachel Gibson, Manchester. Chair: Dr Alan Renwick, Cons...

This is a recording of the final panel session from our conference looking at the government's constitutional reform agenda. The focus of the discussion was the balance of power between parliament, the executive and the courts. Speakers: Dominic Grieve QC, former Attorney General Peter Riddell, Commissioner for Public Appointments Prof Meg Russell FBA, Constitution Unit, UCL Prof Tim Bale, Queen M...

This is a recording of a panel session from our conference looking at the government's constitutional reform agenda. The focus of the discussion was the government's review of the Fixed-term Parliaments Act and it's repeal bill: the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Bill.  Speakers: Lord McLoughlin, Chair of Parliamentary Joint Committee on Review of the FTPA Chris Bryant MP, member of Joint C...

This episode is a recording of the Lord Chancellor Robert Buckland QC MP kicking off our two-day conference jointly organised with the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Oxford University and UK in a Changing Europe with a speech outlining the government's plans for  constitutional reform. The speech was delivered on 17  June 2021.  Suggested reading: All conference out...

The Working Group on Unification Referendums on the Island of Ireland published its Final Report on 26 May. The report explores how any potential future referendum or referendums on the constitutional status of Northern Ireland would best be designed and conducted. The Working Group takes no view on whether such referendums should take place or what the outcome should be. It concludes that referen...

The future of the Union here in the UK – that is, the union of England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland – is very much in the news. In Scotland, many opinion polls over the past year (though not so much over the last few months) have suggested majority support for independence, and political parties that want another referendum on the issue secured a majority of seats in the Scottish Parliam...

Most countries have a document call the Constitution – a legal text setting out basic principles of how that country is governed. And in most of those countries there’s a constitutional court (or supreme court) that determines whether the ordinary laws passed by the legislature are compatible with the Constitution and that strikes them down if it concludes they are not. The UK, famously, has no su...

Westminster and Holyrood have both been engulfed by scandals over ministerial behaviour in the past year. The Committee on Standards in Public Life (CSPL) has launched a further review, Standards Matter 2, to evaluate the institutions and processes that uphold standards of conduct in Westminster and beyond. Sir Alex Allan, former Independent Adviser on Ministers’ Interests, discusses the standards...

Peter Riddell steps down as the Commissioner for Public Appointments in September. The Commissioner’s role is to ensure fair and open competition, with the final choice made by ministers. His predecessor Sir David Normington had warned on departure that changes made by government would weaken OCPA.  Peter Riddell had different criticisms in his final annual report.  In this valedictory talk, he wi...

Democracy is what one social scientist once famously called an ‘essentially contested concept’ – one that we are never likely all to agree about. And disagreements over the form that democracy should take have lately sparked major political conflicts in many democratic countries. How far were politicians in the UK obliged to follow the so-called ‘will of the people’ as expressed in the Brexit refe...