constitutional reform Flashcards
4 major new labour changes
Devolution
Appointed House of Lords
Human Rights Act
Supreme Court
devolution
Creating regional legislatures and executives fully responsible for a number of topics, such as education and health care
Referenda in 1997 (Scotland and Wales), 1998 Good Friday agreement (Northern Ireland)
Creation of Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly.
Scotland Act 1998
Government of Wales Act 1998
house of lords
Membership of the House of Lords was hereditary. That was seen as outdated and changed to appointments for life
1999 House of Lords Act
Change House of Lords from a hereditary to an appointed chamber; ‘life peers’ appointed by the Prime Minister
Immediate removal of all but 92 hereditary peers
Appointment of experts and ‘celebrities’ as Sebastian Coe,
Alan Sugar, Tanni Grey-Thomson, Karren Brady, Andrew
Lloyd Webber, as well as former politicians such as William
Hague, Margaret Thatcher, John Prescott, Michael Heseltine,
and Conservative Party donors such as Peter Cruddas
human rights act
The UK is member of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects a number of rights of citizens
Example: right to a fair trial; freedom from
discrimination
The 1998 Human Rights Act turned all the rights of the ECHR into UK statute law
supreme court
The UK never had a ‘Supreme Court’
This task was always carried out by the ‘Law Lords’ in the House of Lords – which meant Parliament actually checked its own legislation
The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 separated the Law Lords from the House of Lords, and established a separate Supreme Court
However, some New Labour ideas for constitutional reform failed and were never implemented:
Devolution in the regions of England - rejected in a referendum in 2004 in the North East
A fully elected House of Lords, never happened
House of Commons electoral reform – replace FPTP, never happened
gordon brown
New convention:
the prime minister should ask Parliament
before going to war (was royal prerogative).
Publication of ‘Cabinet Manual’ by top civil
servant Cabinet Secretary Gus O’Donnell
(2010) – a booklet collecting the main rules of
government from different sources (laws,
conventions, etc.).
🡪 Step towards a codified constitution?
Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition
The Liberal Democrats always are keen to modernise democracy further
They managed to include some proposals for
constitution reform in the coalition negotiations
However, many Conservative MPs were not convinced
cameron-clegg proposals
Fixed-term Parliament
House of Commons electoral reform (Alternative Vote).
House of Lords reform – elected House of Lords.
Proposals for a ‘British Bill of Rights’
Fixed-term Parliament
General elections are held every 5 years (fixed terms), rather than called by the Prime Minister (royal prerogative). Early election can still be called with support of 2/3 of House of Commons
This happened with the Fixed-term Parliament
Act 2011, abolishing the prerogative power of the Prime Minister to decide the date of an election.
electoral reform - CC coalition
Alternative Vote to replace first-past-the-post electoral system
house of lords reform - CCC
House of Lords reform – elected House of
Lords.
Elected rather than appointed House of Lords - BB rebellion 91 cons
What about the most recent years, Conservative governments Cameron (2015-16), May (2016-19) Johnson (2019-22) Truss (2022) Sunak (2022-now)?
EU membership!!!
English devolution? English Votes for English Laws
British Bill of Rights
brexit
After the 2015 general election Cameron proposed an EU referendum
(passed as the EU Referendum Act 2015)
After a divisive campaign (splitting the Conservative Party) Leave
narrowly won the referendum in 2016 (52% vs 48%)
Cameron resigned, and Theresa May’s government chose for a hard
Brexit (instead of a close relationship with the EU).
In 2017 a majority in Parliament voted to ‘trigger Article 50’ –
formally notify the EU the UK was leaving
However, May’s government never got a majority in Parliament for
any of her proposals for withdrawal deals with the EU
Brexit – what does it mean for the constitution?
EU law no longer applies, no longer overrides UK law
UK voters no longer vote in EU Parliament elections, has no
MEPs anymore, no member of the EU Commission, and no
judge on the European Court of Justice
UK citizens lose right to freedom of movement within EU
Other rights no longer protected by EU law, only UK law
