1.2 - How the Constitution has Changed Since 1997

Question 1

Reform under Blair 1997-2010 - What were Blair’s key areas of reform? (5)

Answer 1

• House of Lords
• Electoral reform
• Devolution
• Human Rights Act
• Constitutional Reform Act (SC)

Question 2

Reform under Blair - House of Lords reform - When was the House of Lords passed and when did it come into effect?

Answer 2

• Passed in 1999
• Came into effect in 2000

Question 3

Reform under Blair - House of Lords reform - What did the House of Lords Act do to HoL membership?

Answer 3

• HoL membership reduced from 1330 to 669
• Only 92 hereditary peers left as part of the Cranbourne Compromise - the rest were life peers

Question 4

Reform under Blair - House of Lords reform - What was Blair’s plan for the Lords long term?

Answer 4

• House of Lords Act was stage one in a two stage plan for Blair
• Stage two was going to introduce a partially elected chamber but this never happened

Question 5

Reform under Blair - House of Lords reform - What are Kier Starmer’s plans for the Lords?

Answer 5

Kier Starmr in 2022 announced his own plans to abolish the House of Lords and replace it with an elected chamber

Question 6

Reform under Blair - Electoral reform - Why did discussion over electoral reform come about?

Answer 6

In 1997 Lab thought they would need LibDem support to form a gov so put electoral reform on their manifesto to get them onside

Question 7

Reform under Blair - Electoral reform - What did discussion over electoral reform lead to?

Answer 7

Led to the creation of the Jenkins Committee who suggested that the UK adopt the AV+ system for general elections

Question 8

Reform under Blair - Electoral reform - Why wasn’t discussion over electoral reform taken further?

Answer 8

Lab ultimately didn’t need the LibDems and support for electoral reform had died down so Jenkins Committee’s suggestion not taken on board

Question 9

Reform under Blair - Electoral reform - Where was electoral reform implemented and why?

Answer 9

• Electoral reform established in the devolved regions as Lab wanted electoral systems that reflected the devolved regions rather than FPTP like in the UK to avoid two party domination
• Led to AV in WL and SC, and STV in NI

Question 10

Reform under Blair - Devolution - When where and why was devolution?

Answer 10

In 1997 Blair held devolution referenda in Wales, Scotland and NI in order to appease independence movements in these nations

Question 11

Reform under Blair - Devolution - Which acts were passed to satisfy devolution and what did these contain?

Answer 11

• Each one ultimately voted yes to devolution which led to the passing of the 1998 Scotland Act, 1998 Government of Wales Act, and 1998 Belfast Agreement
• These saw powers granted to the regional bodies and PR systems established to elect representatives

Question 12

Reform under Blair - Devolution - What has happened since Blair’s gov lost its majority?

Answer 12

Since the Blair gov lost its majority there have been demands for more powers and even independence by some devolved states, most notably Scotland

Question 13

Reform under Blair - HRA - When and what was the HRA, and what was it the first time of?

Answer 13

• HRA passing in 1998 – essentially passed the ECHR into UK law – first time the UK has an explicit codified set of rights

Question 14

Reform under Blair - HRA - What did the HRA give the courts the power to do and what is its status in P?

Answer 14

• Gave the SC jurisdiction to check executive power and that laws passed by P were compatible with the HRA
• HRA is semi-entrenched as a super-majority is required in P to overturn it

Question 15

Reform under Blair - HRA - Positive effect EG and potential issue EG?

Answer 15

HOWEVER the HRA is not fully entrenched and can be repealed by P should it so wish – BJ’s gov and ministers have recently talked about repealing the HRA and it is a significant Tory policy going into the next election

Question 16

Reform under Blair - SC - What was the Act called concerning the SC and when was it passed?

Answer 16

Constitutional Reform Act passed in 2005 - split into three parts

Question 17

Reform under Blair - SC - What were the three parts of the CRA?

Answer 17

1) The removal of the judicial role of the Lord Chancellor
2) The creation and framework for a UK SC, coming into effect in 2009
3) Established a regulation for the appointment of judges in the UK

Question 18

Reform under Blair - SC - What was the highest court in the land and how were appointment of judges made pre CRA?

Answer 18

• Previously the highest court in the land was the HoL and therefore subject to political influence
• Furthermore the appointment of judges was made by the queen on the advisement of the Lord Chancellor, which made appointments subject to political influence

Question 19

Reform under Blair - SC - What impact did the CRA have? (3)

Answer 19

• Creation of the SC allowed for a clearer separation of powers between the legislature and the judiciary
• Created the Judicial Appointments Commission – an independent commission for proposing SC candidates – shows judicial appointments are being made on merit rather than on political grounds – backs up the independence of the judiciary
• Modernised the UK constitution

Question 20

Reform under the coalition 2010-15 - What were two Acts of reform passed by P in this period?

Answer 20

• Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011
• Recall of MPs Act 2015

Question 21

Reform under the coalition 2010-15 - What is the Fixed-term Parliaments Act?

Answer 21

Passed in 2011 - Act designed to take away gov’s power to call a general election whenever they wished (threat of a general always hanging over Nick Clegg and the LibDems during the coalition gov as they would likely lose seats)

Question 22

Reform under the coalition 2010-15 - Has the Fixed-term Parliament Act been effective? (3)

Answer 22

• The Act had limited significance as it does not apply where a gov suffers a vote of no confidence
• Therefore, even though it was designed to take away the PMs highly advantageous power to call a snap election, there have been two cases, 2017 and 2019, where snap elections have been called already
• This Act was ultimately repealed in 2022

Question 23

Reform under the coalition 2010-15 - What is the Recall of MPs Act?

Answer 23

Passed in 2015, this Act allowed for constituencies to ‘recall’ an MP if they had been involved in scandal – if this were to happen, a by-election would take place

Question 24

Reform under the coalition 2010-15 - How many recall petitions and EG?

Answer 24

• Directly led to 3 MPs facing recall petitions
• EG March 2019 – Fiona Onasanya (Lab) sentenced to three months in prison for perverting justice – the subsequent recall petition was successful and Onasanya did not contest the bi-election

Question 25

Further reform since 2015 - What are the three instances of further reform since 2015?

Answer 25

• Extension of Scottish and Welsh devolution
• EVEL
• Leaving the EU

Question 26

Further reform since 2015 - What was the extension to Scottish and Welsh devolution?

Answer 26

• In 2016, the Con gov was forced to grant Scotland further devolved powers as part of the 2016 Scotland Act
• This was directly in response to the growing independence movement exemplified by the Scottish referendum
• In Wales, the Wales Act of 2017 granted it similar devolved powers to Scotland

Question 27

Further reform since 2015 - What was EVEL an issue?

Answer 27

• Success of devolution is SC and WL led to the issue of the West Lothian Question, the problem of MPs from devolved areas voting on bills in Westminster that only concerned England

Question 28

Further reform since 2015 - What was the Tory solution to the West Loathian Question, what is an issue with this, and status of the Act as of 2021?

Answer 28

• Tory solution to West Loathian Question was English Votes for English Laws – this ensured that English MPs, or English and Welsh MPs, could not have legislation that they oppose being forced on them by MPs from other regions
• However, the Act does not guarantee that an act favoured by the majority of English MPs will pass a vote from the whole chamber – EG extensions to Sunday trading in 2016 that was voted down by the SNP MPs
• This was also abolished in 2021

Question 29

Further reform since 2015 - Significance of leaving the EU and what happened in Jan 2020?

Answer 29

• Although only happening very recently, Brexit is arguably the biggest constitutional change in the country’s history
• Jan 2020 saw the UK formally leave the EU and the full ramifications are still to be seen, as Covid and political chaos ground everything else to a halt

Question 30

Further reform since 2015 - Brexit developments since 2023 and moving forwards?

Answer 30

• However, as of 2023, the UK’s economy is far behind the rest of the big countries in the EU
• Sunak’s Windsor Framework for NI represents a landmark deal
• However, it is ultimately unknown what the long-term impacts of Brexit will be