Professor David Judge of the University of Strathclyde provides a valuable examination of the current parliamentary balance in the House of Commons. He considers how representative the chamber is and outlines some of the potential difficulties in effecting scrutiny that may lay ahead. The blog was originally written for the LSE Politics and Policy page but has been kindly shared with the PSA Parliaments Specialist Group.
Category: Blog
In a piece written for The Conversation, Peter John McLoughlin, Queen’s University Belfast, provides a useful consideration of how the deadlock at Stormont has been overcome. The blog also outlines the continuing importance of legislative vetoes held by Sinn Féin and the DUP.
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Parliament: You in Danger, Girl
PSA Parliaments Group Convenor Dr Marc Geddes considers the potential impact that the recent Conservative victory may have upon effective parliamentary scrutiny. The blog discusses the current government’s agenda for legislative reform and the changes that may be brought about by a shake-up in the staffing of key parliamentary roles.
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Treaties: Parliament’s Blind Spot?
In the second blog from our annual conference ‘Parliaments: Coming of Age’, Eleanor Hourigan, Counsel for Human Rights and International Law at the UK Parliament, discusses how to improve parliamentary scrutiny of treaties.
Jack Sheldon and Hedydd Phylip discuss potential improvements to interparliamentary relations among the UK’s four legislatures, in the first blog from our Parliaments: Coming of Age? conference.
Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee has produced a report into Russian interference in UK politics, but it cannot be published without government approval. In a blog originally posted by Democratic Audit Andrew Defty explains that Number 10’s failure to release the report before Parliament was dissolved is the latest in a series of government actions that have hindered effective parliamentary scrutiny of the intelligence and security services. Reform to ensure the committee has greater independence from executive obstruction should be considered in the next Parliament.
Emmeline Ledgerwood celebrates the 80th anniversary of the establishment of the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee and its work to strengthen Parliament’s scrutiny of science.
Franklin De Vrieze of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy discusses the use of post-legislative scrutiny to combat human rights violations.
It is frequently claimed that the House of Commons’ select committees have grown in prominence since key reforms were implemented in 2010. In a blog originally posted by Democratic Audit Brian J. Gaines, Mark Goodwin, Stephen Holden Bates and Gisela Sin test this claim specifically in relation to press coverage. They find a pattern of increased newspaper attention after the reforms, but caution that these results show no consistent sustained increase, and also vary considerably depending on committee.
Dr Sarah Wollaston, Chair of the Liaison Committee, discusses its new report into how the system of select committees can operate more effectively, both in terms of their place within the House of Commons and their external impact, in a blog originally posted on The Constitution Unit. New ways of working and more powers are suggested, such as taking a ‘digital first’ approach to reports and formalising formalising further the arrangements for the Prime Minister to appear before the Liaison Committee.