Constitutional Reform 1997-2010 1

Test yourself on Constitutional Reform 1997-2010 1

After reading these notes, test your knowledge with free interactive questions on Seneca — used by over 10 million students.

Demand for Reform

Since 1997 there have been many reforms to the constitution.

Demand for Reform

Demand for reform came from a broad range of groups who wanted to modernise British institutions and a growing distrust in traditional institutions.
There were also growing demands for devolution to Scotland and to fix the problems in Northern Ireland.
When New Labour came to power in 1997 under the leadership of Tony Blair they promised wide ranging constitutional reforms.
There is still debate about whether these reforms went far enough.

House of Lords Reform

The 1999 House of Lords Act reformed the House of Lords to become a mainly appointed chamber. A case can be made that reforms have done enough but also that more reform of the House is needed.

House of Lords Act 1999

The House of Lords Act 1999 removed all but 92 hereditary peers.
The Lords became a mainly appointed chamber, with peers appointed based on merit as opposed to by birth with the removal of most hereditary peers.

Reforms did enough

Removal of the majority hereditary peers modernised the House of Lords and made it a more legitimate and professional body.
No one party has a majority.
An unelected house means that experts can be appointed.
- For example, Lord Norton, a politics professor and constitutional expert.
People who can represent underrepresented groups in society can be appointed.
- Lord Bird (ex-homeless man and founder of the Big Issue) represents homeless people, a group who often go unrepresented.

Did enough: life peerages

Life peerages mean that peers don’t have to worry about election or removal from office if they make decisions that are unpopular with their party or a small group of constituents.
Life peerages mean that Lords can, therefore, consider the long-term interests of the country.

More reform is needed

There are still 92 hereditary peers – an idea that is outdated in a meritocratic society.
There are 26 Bishops but no representation for other religions.
Party leaders still make political appointments to the House of Lords.
The House of Lords remains unelected despite having influence over lawmaking and being able to hold the government to account.

More reform is needed

It is very large and very costly – over 800 peers – making it the second largest legislative chamber in the world.
- The 2017 Burns report called for a reduction in the size of the House of Lords and for term limits of members.

Devolution

Referendums were held in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales in 1997-8 in which the people voted for powers to be devolved to new regional assemblies.

Devolution

In 1998 the Scotland Act, Northern Ireland Act and Government of Wales Act established the Scottish Parliament, Northern Ireland Assembly and Welsh Assembly.
There had been a growing demand for Scottish independence and a need to unite the unionist and nationalist parties in Northern Ireland.

Devolution did enough

The Good Friday agreement and devolution to the Northern Ireland Assembly transformed the situation in Northern Ireland.
Until the collapse of the power-sharing agreement in January 2017 the two main parties had been working together.
Although there are calls for more devolution to England, when a referendum was held on the idea of an elected regional assembly for the north east of England the idea was rejected.

More devolution needed: Wales

There have been multiple pieces of legislation devolving further powers to Wales since 1998, in 2006, 2014 and 2017.
- One of the reasons for this increased demand is the imbalance in the powers given in 1998 when Wales gained fewer powers than Scotland.
- The Welsh nationalist movement has been growing and demand for further devolution continues.

More devolution needed: Scotland

Devolution did not stem the demand for Scottish independence.
- In 2014 there was a Scottish independence referendum which was only narrowly won by the unionists. The Scottish National Party are now much more popular and electorally successful than in 1998.
- There has also been further devolution to Scotland in 2016.

More needed: Northern Ireland

Since the 2016 EU referendum there have been ongoing discussions over how Brexit will work for Northern Ireland as it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland (an EU member).
The Northern Ireland Act 1998 will need to be amended as part of the Brexit process, causing possible conflict in Ireland.

More devolution needed

It is argued that more devolution of powers to England is needed.
- The West Lothian question is the problem of Scottish MPs being able to vote in the House of Commons on matters that only affect England whilst English MPs have no say in devolved Scottish Matters.
The Barnett formula is used to determine the amount of funding per head given to each part of the UK and is out of date as it was devised in 1978.
- The formula means that Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland receive more money per head than England.