Monitor 91, published today, provides an analysis of constitutional events over the last four months, a period in which the government has announced numerous electoral reforms, created a new standards body, introduced a bill to increase public accountability, and continued progress on legislation to enhance devolution in England. However, in this post, which replicates the lead article from today’s new issue of Monitor, Meg Russell and Alan Renwick argue that many of the reforms fail to go far enough. They say that the government could be seeking to lead, and to set the tone on constitutional standards, but changes instead feel timid and reluctant in the face of serious threats.

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Monitor 90, published today, provides an analysis of constitutional events over the last four months, a period in which the Unit hosted its annual conference and celebrated its thirtieth anniversary, and the Starmer government marked its first year in office. This post, by Meg Russell and Alan Renwick, which also serves as the issue’s lead article, argues that the government’s constitutional scorecard is mixed. The bill to remove hereditary peers from parliament has made significant progress, but further reform of the Lords feels a long way off. Keir Starmer’s relationship with his own backbenchers has deteriorated rapidly, with significant effects on government bills. Attacks on judges and the rule of law remain disturbingly common. Away from Westminster, an English devolution bill has been tabled, and measures aimed at increasing respect for democracy have been taken in Scotland and Wales. This post argues that the public still feel that politicians are not being straight with them, and that this perception needs to be fixed for democracy to function effectively.

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Today the Unit published Monitor 89, providing an analysis of constitutional events over the last four months. This post by Alan Renwick and Meg Russell, which also serves as the issue’s lead article, highlights welcome action by the government on devolution, commitment to the rule of law and the removal of hereditary peers from the House of Lords, but calls for stronger action on wider Lords reform, progress on the promised Ethics and Integrity Commission, and action on the pre-election pledge to strengthen parliamentary scrutiny of legislation. It warns that the governments of the UK must strive to maintain healthy checks and balances, avoid polarisation, and foster open political discourse at a time when events in the US are showing the dangers of not doing so.

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Today the Unit published Monitor 88, providing an analysis of constitutional events over the last four months. This post by Alan Renwick and Meg Russell, which also serves as the issue’s lead article, reviews the new government’s early months, highlighting positive first steps, but also many opportunities for quick wins not taken. It highlights some positive action by the new government, like the publication of a revised Ministerial Code, a speech by the new Attorney General on the rule of law and small steps on parliamentary and electoral reform, as well as some less positive behaviour and inaction, such as failing to further strengthen of standards in public life, rushing legislation and not making further progress with parliamentary and electoral reform.

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Today, the Unit published Monitor 86, providing analysis of constitutional events over the last four months. This post by Meg Russell and Alan Renwick also serves as the issue’s lead article. It outlines how the government and its opponents are increasingly acting with the general election in mind, and the impact that is having on the UK constitution. It covers a wide range of topics, including the defeat of the government’s Rwanda policy in the Supreme Court, the ensuing legislative battle to overturn that judgment, a furore involving the Speaker, changes to the electoral system ahead of the next general election, the health of the monarchy, a return to power-sharing in Northern Ireland, and challenges to the rule of law in Poland and Israel.

Constitutional politics – just like politics more broadly – is increasingly framed by the UK’s looming general election. That must take place within the next 10 months, but could be called within weeks. Each party is preparing its pitch to voters, and preparatory changes – some of them controversial – have been made to electoral law.

A Conservative priority is to ‘stop the boats’ that carry asylum seekers across the English Channel. The Supreme Court ruled in November that one of the policies through which ministers hope to advance that aim – sending some asylum seekers to Rwanda – was illegal, as asylum seekers there could be returned to home countries where they are in danger. The government responded to this judgment by upgrading its previous memorandum of understanding with the Rwandan government to a treaty and by introducing legislation that, if passed, will declare Rwanda to be a safe country, prevent courts from deciding to the contrary, and empower ministers to ignore injunctions granted by the European Court of Human Rights.

These moves seem motivated by a belief among ministers that seeing flights take off for Rwanda is essential for their party’s prospects at the ballot box. But, in attempting this, they risk placing electoral expediency ahead of the rule of law. The Rwanda bill is criticised for breaching the UK’s obligations under international law and for undermining the separation of powers between parliament and the judiciary. Both of these points are central to the British constitutional tradition.

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