Article 5: Blog Post – Constitutional Reform
20th August 2015
Blog Post – Constitutional Reform
What is constitutional reform?
Constitutional reform is the act of modernising the way a country is run. The need for the constitution to be periodically reviewed and reformed is a result of a variety of factors including;
- Fears about parliamentary sovereignty and the impact of EU membership
- Corruption and sleaze associated with the House of Commons
- Fairness of the electoral system
- Future of the House of Lords
- Erosion of civil liberties
- Increasing number of unelected quangos
Constitutional Reform under Tony Blair 1997-2007
| ScotlandDEVOLUTION | · Referendums took place in 1997 – majority (74.3%) voted yes on 60% turnout· Scotland Act 1998 – ability to raise/lower UK income tax by 1% (nicknamed ‘tartan tax’)
· Scottish Parliament established 1999 |
| WalesDEVOLUTION | · Referendums took place in 1997 – in Wales the turnout was only just over 50% and of those who turned out to vote – only 50.3% of them voted yes· Government of Wales Act 1998
· Welsh National Assembly established 1999 |
| Northern IrelandDEVOLUTION | · Under the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) – a Northern Ireland Assembly (NIA) was established with powers of primary legislation, education, health etc [however defence and foreign policy, relations with Irish Republic, economic policy, social policy and taxation = all still with Westminster] |
| Electoral Reform | · Single Transferable Vote (STV) introduced for local elections in Scotland (1997) and elections to Northern Ireland Assembly (1999)· Additional Member System (AMS) introduced for elections to Scottish Parliament (1999), Welsh Assembly (1999) and Greater London Assembly (2000)
· Regional list system introduced for elections to EU parliament (1999) |
| Freedom Of Information | · Freedom of Information Act (2000) – right for citizens to see information about themselves held by public bodies [actually only came into force in 2005] |
| Human Rights | · HUMAN RIGHTS ACT (1998) – made the ECHR part of British law = binding on virtually all public bodies, in virtually all circumstances and can be enforced by any British court of law [came into force in 2000] |
| London and Local Government | · Greater London Authority Act 1999· Greater London Assembly established in 2000 (including position of elected Mayor of London) |
| Parliamentary Reform | · House of Lords Act (1999) removed all but 92 hereditary peers in the House of Lords· Replaced the two 15-minute sessions with a single 30-minute session. The allocated number of questions in each session for the Leader of the Opposition was doubled from three to six, and the leader of the third-largest party was given two questions. |
| The Judiciary | · The position of the Lord Chancellor was retained but its holder no longer presides over the House of Lords and is no longer head of the courts system· Lord Chief Justice (a non-political post) became head of the judicial system
· The post of Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs was created in the cabinet (to advise the cabinet on constitutional issues) · A new Judicial Appointments Commission was set up to propose candidates for promotion to senior judicial positions – this ensures that there is no political influence over the decision and can prevent politically motivated appointments |
Constitutional Reform under Gordon Brown 2007-2010
| WalesDEVOLUTION | · February 2010 the WA voted in favour of holding a referendum on the issue of enabling the Assembly to pass primary legislation |
| Northern IrelandDEVOLUTION | · St Andrew’s Agreement (2007) new NI Exectuive takes office· Further breakthrough in February 2010 all parties agreed to transfer of law and order and security issues to the Northern Ireland Executive = highly significant event |
| Parliamentary Reform | · MP Expenses Scandal (2009) prompted a new system whereby the issue of expenses and MPs pay was placed in the hands of an independent commission |
| The Judiciary | · Supreme Court replaces the House of Lords as the final court of appeal and constitutional court of the UK (2009) |
Constitutional Reform under The Coalition 2010-present
| ScotlandDEVOLUTION | · Referendum on Scottish Independence planned for Thursday 18 September 2014 (although polls suggest that this would produce a ‘No’ vote – however the new London Govt may change opinion as most Scots are still very anti Conservative) |
| WalesDEVOLUTION | · Referendum on additional law-making powers for Welsh Assembly on 3 March 2011.· The Welsh electorate voted in favour of the proposal that full law-making powers should be devolved to the Welsh government. Following the affirmative result, the Assembly has approved an order which brought the new powers into force on 5 May 2011. |
| Electoral Reform | · The Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013 speeds up changes to the way people register to vote in Great Britain, moving from a Household Registration system to Individual Electoral Registration.· Referendum to change from the first-past-the-post system to the alternative vote (AV) system for general elections in May 2011. Overwhelming No vote to retain old system. |
| Human Rights | · Coalition investigating the repeal of the HRA 1998 and replacing it with a Bill of Rights |
| London and Local Government | · Cities given option of establishing directly elected mayors (some like Liverpool without a referendum, others have voted in favour in a referendum like Bristol and others have rejected the idea in a referendum like Birmingham) |
| Parliamentary Reform | · The Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011-12 fixes the length of Parliamentary terms to 5 years.· Boundary Commission still looking at reducing the number of MPs and ensuring constituencies are more equal in size. |
Further Reading
Constitutional Reform
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/constitution
Reforming the Constitution and the political system
https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/reforming-the-constitution-and-political-system
Political and Constitutional Reform Select Committee
http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/political-and-constitutional-reform-committee/
Progress Report: Constitutional Reform
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-16748163
The Coalition and the Constitution
http://www.newstatesman.com/books/2011/04/coalition-government-election
All Change
http://www.economist.com/node/18617926
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