1997 reforms should go further

Question 1

house of lords

Answer 1

-H of L Act 1999 reduced number of hereditary peers from 666 to 92, and introduced HOLAC
-H of L Act 2014 Lords able to resign and peers can be suspended for the first time
-H of L Act 2015 Lords can be expelled for the first time
-ERS argues for an elected lords giving the commons a significant check and balance
-Cronyism remains apparent e.g. Zac Goldsmith
-HOLAC is a ‘rubber stamp’ fails to scrutinise nominees e.g. Evgeny Lebedev (former KGB)

Question 2

house of lords evaluation

Answer 2

-small ‘c’ conservatives note an elected lords would would weaken the commons, via the salisbury convention and parliament acts of 1911 and 1949 balance efficient government and a ‘revising chamber’
-the nominations process allows for independent experts to be to be appointed allowing for non-partisan revision of legislation e.g. Lord Judge

Question 3

house of commons

Answer 3

-select committee chairs (2010) elected by secret ballot
-number of opposition debate days increased (20) 17 for opposition and 3 for third largest party
-expansion of urgent questions
-recall act 2015, constituents can recall MPs resulting in a by-election
-ERS argues for more representative commons
-‘the elective dictatorship’ needs to be dealt with
-the quality of accountability needs to be improved
_tougher rules on lobbying and second jobs following the second jobs scandal 2021

Question 4

house of commons evaluation

Answer 4

-FPTP allows for strong effective government
-if MPs were forced to give up second jobs there would be a loss of many MPs
-PMQs is a crucial part of the parliamentary week, forces the PM to keep on top of his brief and allows HMO to ‘audition’ as leader

Question 5

executive branch

Answer 5

-Fixed Term Parliament Act 2011 and its repeal 2022, elections were placed on a five year fixed term but now the PM can use them to their advantage
-rewriting of ministerial code 2022: ministers are no longer required to resign for breaching the code
-small ‘l’ liberals advocate for separation of powers and an elected head of state
-Labour and Lib Dems seek strengthening of the ministerial code

Question 6

executive evaluation

Answer 6

-strong centralised power allows for effective government especially compared to liberal system such as the US

Question 7

judiciary

Answer 7

-Constitutional Reform Act 2005: created UKSC to improve public confidence in the independence of the judiciary, JAC introduced too
-small ‘l’ liberals note the judiciary would be strengthened by a codified constitution, under parliamentary sovereignty the judiciary cannot properly check the power of parliament
-JAC has failed to make the judiciary more diverse
-the judiciary’s budget has been significantly cut particularly during the period of austerity

Question 8

judiciary evaluation

Answer 8

-UKSC is one of the institutions with the greatest public confidence, so why reform it and make it political in nature like the US