Parliament
The relationship between political donations and peerages shows the need for party finance and House of Lords reform
Allegations that membership of the House of Lords and large political donations go hand-in-hand stretch back hundreds of years, with Tony Blair at one point questioned by police on the issue. Here Andrew Mell illustrates a direct statistical link, and argues that it shows the need for reform of both the House of Lords and […]
Party manifestos fail to offer clear commitments on the redrawing of Parliamentary boundaries
Will the rules for the redistribution of Parliamentary constituencies be changed by the next government – as recommended by a House of Commons Committee? Or will another disruptive exercise reducing the number of MPs begin within a year of the 2015 election, as currently scheduled? As Ron Johnston, David Rossiter and Charles Pattie show, there […]
Like our students, UK voters should have the option to vote for ‘Re-open Nominations’
In the UK, there is currently no formal provision for voters to make a positive abstention. Chris Game argues that this is a mistake, and that a ‘Re-open nominations’ option should be added to ballot papers, as part of a range of reforms aimed at increasing engagement. Wednesday April 15 was #DeDay – Democracy Day, […]
Britain’s voting system is partially responsible for holding back women’s representation
The proportion of women elected to parliament in the UK remains low compared to other countries. In this post, Chris Terry examines the gender balance of parliamentary candidates for the upcoming election, and concludes that some progress is being made. Nevertheless, he suggests switching to a system of proportional representation would increase the descriptive representation […]
The Speaker election row tells us two important things about parliament
On 26 March, its final sitting day, the House of Commons rejected government proposals to reform how the Speaker is elected at the start of the new parliament. Here Meg Russell reflects on what this teaches us about parliament, suggesting it holds two lessons. First, that the 2010 House of Commons was more resistant than […]
National parliaments are not the losers of EU integration – at least not anymore
Eurosceptics like to argue that Parliament has become in part redundant following transfers of power from the national to the European level. Katrin Auel, Olivier Rozenberg, and Angela Tacea argue that contrary to this, national parliaments in Europe have not become inconsequential in making policy at the European Union level in the wake of the Lisbon […]
The House of Commons Liaison Committee needs reform if it is to fulfil its potential
Last week the House of Commons Liaison Committee – the Committee made up of the Chairs of the House’s 34 select committees – has published its Legacy Report on select committees in the 2010-15 parliament. Hannah White assesses the report and argues for reform of the Liaison Committee itself. Similar PostsBedding down, treading water and taking […]
20 things we learned about democracy in March 2015
The General Election is (nearly) here! And here at Democratic Audit UK, we’ve been ferreting away trying to find the most interesting clumps of information, conjecture, opinion and miscellaneous. Collating it all for your pleasure, as ever, is Sean Kippin, who has been helped enormously by the launch of the Democratic Dashboard – a new voter resource bringing […]
We shouldn’t focus solely on the Syria vote when assessing Parliament’s power over military deployments
In August 2013, the House of Commons rejected a Government proposal to intervene in Syria following that country’s regime’s use of chemical weapons. The vote proved to be most consequential, with some arguing that it led to the United States ultimately withdrawing its proposals to lead the campaign against the Syrian tyrant Bashar Al-Assad. Louise […]
Implementing the recommendations of the Digital Democracy Commission: Where to now?
Last week saw a Westminster Hall debate to discuss the report of the Speaker’s Commission on Digital Democracy. Andy Williamson argues that while concrete steps are being taken to implement some of the recommendations, greater drive will be needed to create a coherent long-term programme for the digital modernisation of Parliament. Similar PostsDigital technology can […]
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