Author: psaparliaments

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A Better, But Not as Yet, Good Parliament: The UK House of Commons 2016-2018

Post author By psaparliaments
Post date August 16, 2018

Sarah Childs, Professor of Politics and Gender, Birkbeck College University of London and Distinguished Visiting Researcher, University of Auckland, discusses progress on implementing the recommendations of her report The Good Parliament two years on from its publication.

Tags Babyleave, diversity, gender, House of Commons, Proxy voting, The Good Parliament, the Speaker, UK Parliament, Westminster

Blog

Harassment and Bullying at Westminster: the Independent Complaints and Grievance Policy, Parliamentary Standards Investigations, and the MPs’ Expenses Scandal

Post author By psaparliaments
Post date July 23, 2018

Changes to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards’ investigation process won’t affect expenses investigations, writes Nick Dickinson. But the reason why reveals the deeper challenges in transforming Parliament into a modern workplace.

Tags Bullying, Expenses, House of Commons, Independent Complaints and Grievance Policy, IPSA, UK Parliament

Blog

The Prime Minister and the Palace of Westminster

Post author By psaparliaments
Post date July 20, 2018

In evidence to the House of Commons Liaison Committee this week Theresa May discussed the Restoration and Renewal of the Palace of Westminster. Alexandra Meakin discusses the importance of government support for the R&R programme.

Tags executive-legislative relations, Liaison Committee, Palace of Westminster, prime minister, restoration and renewal, UK Parliament

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The Labour Party’s long-standing lethargy over House of Lords reform

Post author By psaparliaments
Post date July 11, 2018

Labour recently announced that any new peers it nominates must commit to abolishing the House of Lords. In this post, Pete Dorey discusses Labour’s track record on Lords reform and why the party has failed to enact serious reforms when in government, arguing that the subject has suffered from a lack of intra-party consensus and a lack of serious interest in reform at ministerial level.

Tags House of Lords, Labour Party, Lords reform, UK Parliament, Westminster, Westminster model

Blog

Challenges for Female Members of Parliament in Tanzania

Post author By psaparliaments
Post date July 4, 2018

Meg Munn, former UK Parliament MP, and Minister for Women and Equalities, discusses the work of Global Partners Governance with MPs in Tanzania.

Tags Female MPs, gender quotas, Global Partners Governance, Tanzania

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Contributing to the first full-scale review of Lords scrutiny committees in a quarter-century

Post author By psaparliaments
Post date June 28, 2018

Dr Brigid Fowler discusses the Hansard Society’s evidence to the House of Lords Liaison Committee’s review of Lords scrutiny committees.

Tags Ad-hoc Committees, Hansard Society, House of Lords, Lords Committees, Lords Liaison Committee, select committees

Blog

Is Parliament Fit for Purpose?

Post author By psaparliaments
Post date June 22, 2018

Image courtesy of UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor. Parliamentary copyright.

There has been plenty of procedural drama and political intrigue in the UK Parliament in the last fortnight. Mark Bennister, who is an academic fellow in the House of Commons, discusses why these events pose a challenge to how Westminster is perceived by the public.

Tags brexit, EU (Withdrawal) Bill, House of Commons, PMBs, pmqs, Private Members' Bills, scrutiny, Sexual harassment, SNP, the Speaker

Blog

The EU Withdrawal Bill raises questions about the role of smaller opposition parties in the legislative process

Post author By psaparliaments
Post date June 20, 2018

The EU Withdrawal Bill’s return to the Commons saw SNP MPs protest about their voices having been excluded from the debate. Our Co-Convenor, Louise Thompson, explains how parliamentary procedures can indeed restrict debate for smaller opposition parties, and considers whether something ought to be done about it.

Tags House of Commons, Legislative process, parliamentary procedure, Smaller parties, SNP, Third Parties, Westminster