reform effects

Question 1

House of Lords Act (1999)

Answer 1

• reduced the number of hereditary peers to 92
• more life peers (those appointed due to there expertise)
• House of Lords could no longer block anything in the elected governments manifesto

Question 2

Constitutional Reform Act (2005)

Answer 2

• divides the job of lord chancellor into justice secretary, Lord chief justice, and Legislature Lord Speaker

Question 3

what does the Justice secretary/Lord chancellor do?

Answer 3

would oversee appointments, administrate the court and prison services

Question 4

what did the Lord Chief Justice do?

Answer 4

• president over the courts of England and Wales
• head of the judiciary and chief justice

Question 5

what did the Legislature Lord Speaker do?

Answer 5

• presides over the House of Lords
• elected by members by an alternative vote system

Question 6

Scotland Act, Government of Wales Act and Northern Ireland Act (1998)

Answer 6

• devolved the government and gave each nation more power over itself
• created the West Lothian question

Question 7

Greater London Authority Act (1999)

Answer 7

• provides elections for the mayor of London and its assembly
• established the TFL and the MPA (Metropolitan Police Authority)

Question 8

political parties, elections and referendums act (2000)

Answer 8

• created an independent Electoral Commission
• tracked government funding by requiring statements from parties
• prohibited funding from foreign and anonymous people
• restrictions on campaign expenditure

Question 9

Human rights act (1998)

Answer 9

set out the Human rights in UK constitution such as right to life and the freedom of expression

Question 10

Freedom of information Act (2000)

Answer 10

• public authorities are made by law to publish certain information about their activity
• public are entitled to request information from public authorities

Question 11

Wright committee reforms

Answer 11

-35 days to debate on issues raised by backbencher MPs
- introduced e-petitions and any one with over 10k signatures gets a response, 100k it’s debated
- e-petition website erected in 2011 and tweaked in 2015

Question 12

Recall of MPs Act (2015)

Answer 12

-allows for an MP to be removed if they are convicted of a crime and given a sentence of less than 12 months
- petition is sent out to all constituents and if 10% sign within 6 weeks there is a bi-election

Question 13

Fixed-term parliaments Act (2011)

Answer 13

• took away the prerogative power to call a general election when it suited them
• set the date for the election at first Saturday in may every 5 years
• However, if 2/3s of MPs have lost confidence there can be an early election

Question 14

Succession to the Crown Act (2013)

Answer 14

• made succession to the crown gender neutral
• ended the law that marriage to a catholic removed succession

Question 15

House of Lords Pros - Cons

Answer 15

Pros
- removed many hereditary peers
- government could now enforce their manifesto more easily
Cons
- still left 92 hereditary peers in the House of Lords
- didn’t do anything to fix the issue with the amount of people in House of Lords

Question 16

Devolution Pros - Cons

Answer 16

pros
- allowed the devolved governments to have more power over local problems
cons
- reduced stability because countries now wanted more independence
- produced the West Lothian question

Question 17

Judiciary pros - cons

Answer 17

Pros
- MPs stay aware of their obligations to their constituents
- implemented new independent judges
cons
- recall can be manipulated and used for party political ends

Question 18

Human Rights Act pros - cons

Answer 18

pros
-ensured that all the Human Rights were written in statute law in UK constitution
cons
- most would have held up in a court regardless