Constitutional Reform (Lecture 7) Flashcards
describe the Constitution in 2 words and what that means
traditional and historic; changes via evolution
what happened in 1688 and what was it based on
-Glorious Revolution of UK constitution
-based on restoration of the monarchy
what is the primary instrument for (gradual) reform
legislation
give 2 act and their 3 evolutions over time
-Reform Act for diff votes for men throughout 19th cent then Representation of People Act 1918, 1928, 1969 for women
explain the evolution of the Reform Acts
-1832; votes for men with property
-1867; extended to urban men
-1884; extended to rural men
explain the evolution of the Representation of the People Acts
-1918; votes for men over 21 and women with property over 30
-1928; women over 21
-1969; all over 18
is the UK constitution flexible or inflexible and what does that mean
-flexible
-provides the possibility of change but reality is this often requires reactive change
give 2 examples of how the UK’s constitution was flexible due to reactive change
-Parliament Act 1911; threats in response to HoL Liberal budget crisis
-Parliament Act 1949; change in anticipation of blocking Labour gov
who with what party recently tried to reform the uk constitution
-Tony Blair with New Labour gov in 1997
what was the aim of Tony Blair and New Labour gov in 1997
-to ‘modernise’ and ‘re-invent’ Britain
give 4 examples of New Labour’s post-1997 constitutional settlement
-Scotland Act 1998 (devolution of Scotland)
-Human Rights Act 1998 (put into domestic law for first time)
-House of Lords Act 1999 (removed hereditary peers)
-Constitutional Reform Act 2005 (intro UKSC)
give 5 main reforms from New Labour’s constitutional reform which are considered key to our constitution now
-Devolution – power to Scotland, Wales and NI
- Human Rights Act – ECHR rights actionable in UK law
- Remove (most) hereditary ‘peers’ from House of Lords
- Freedom of Information laws to access official docs
- Creating the UK Supreme Court
is there any consistent narrative for why New Labour did the reforms they did? (3)
-modernisation of government eg HoL and referendum reform?
-separating powers eg 2006 Act and devolution?
-or simply no and they just did what they wanted
is there any fixed centrepiece
-V. Bogdanor ‘Our New Constitution’ argues the Human Rights Act
-and that devolution will render that constitutional [sic] quasi-federal in nature
describe New Labour’s approach in 5 ways
-Proactive
- Far-reaching
- Changed the modern constitution
- Created greater ‘constitutional consciousness’? eg more ppl aware of constitution and its powers
- Influential on other parties or a ‘one-off’?
what do V.Bogdanor & S. Vogenauer, ‘Enacting a British Constitution: Some Problems’(2008) argue are the implications of New Labour’s reforms
-unique process to democratic world underway of “transforming an uncodified constitution into a codified one gradually without any sort of consensus on what the end result should be”
Gordon Brown’s flirtation with codification?
‘But there is now a growing recognition of the need to clarify not just what it means to be British, but what it means to be the United Kingdom. This might in time lead to a concordat between the executive and Parliament or a written constitution.’
The Governance of Britain, Cm 7170 2007
what is the main practical problem with codifying the UK constitution
-a “written constitution could come into being except over an extended period of time, through extensive and wide consultation, and not without broad consensus upon the values upon which they were based and the rights and responsibilities which derived from them.’
The Governance of Britain, (2007) at [213]
what happened in Parliament after New Labour replaced in 2010
-Hung Parliament (no party majority)
-Coalition Gov led by conservative PM David Cameron (anti reform) and libdem deputy PM Nick Clegg (pro reform)
how long did the coalition gov last
-2010-2015
give 8 examples of attempted/successful reform by the coalition gov 2010-2015
AV’ Referendum on voting reform in 2011 (happened but rejected)
- (completing) House of Lords reform (mainly failed)
- Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 (repealed)
- EU ‘referendum locks’ – EU Act 2011 (repealed)
- Succession to the Crown Act 2013 (minor?)
- Scottish Independence Order 2013 (2014 referendum)
- More devolution to Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland (success?)
- Recall of MPs Act 2015 (narrow scope?)
give 4 examples of failed attempts of reform in the Coalition Gov era 2010-2015
-AV’ Referendum on voting reform in 2011 (happened but rejected)
- (completing) House of Lords reform (mainly failed)
- Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 (repealed)
- EU ‘referendum locks’ – EU Act 2011 (repealed)
give 4 examples of successful reforms by the Coalition gov 2010-2015 and any drawbacks they had
-Succession to the Crown Act 2013 (minor?)
- Scottish Independence Order 2013 (2014 referendum)
- More devolution to Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland (success?)
- Recall of MPs Act 2015 (narrow scope?)
what was the approach of the coalition gov 2010-15
-Proactive, but a (very) mixed package?
-In terms of (i) aims, (ii) substance, (iii) significance, (iv) legacy
