p2

• nature of constitution

  • organic
  • unentrenched
  • uncodified
  • unitary
  • acts udner rule of law
• acts in constitution

  1. magna carta
  2. bill of rights
  3. act of settlement
  4. act of union
  5. parliamentary acts 1911 & 1949 (hol can only delay 1 year & took away power over financial matters)
  6. european communities act 1972 (joining eu)
  7. eu withdrawal act 2020
• blair reforms

  • hol reform (92 hereditary peers & hol appoinments commission)
  • electoral reform (PR in devolved assmblies)
  • devolution
  • HRA 1998
  • constitutional reform act 2005 (supreme court)
• constitutional reform since 2010 


  1. fixed term parliaments act
  2. more scotland devolution
  3. EVEL
  4. recalling MPs
  5. brexit
  6. hol reform
• uk constitution


  - magna carta 1215

  -act of settlement 1701

  - act of union 1707

  - parliament acts (1911 & 1949)
• Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949

  - 1911: removed the HOL power to veto on a bill

  - 1949: reduced HOL delaying powers
• nature of constitution

  unentrenched, uncodified, unitary
• blair reforms


  - hol reform

  - electoral reform

  - devolution

  - HRA 1998

  - supreme court
• constitutional reform since 2010

  - 2011 fixed term parliaments act (repealed by johnson)

  - 2015 scottish parliament act

  - 2015 evel (repealed 2021)

  - 2020 eu withdrawal act
• 2023 Protection from Sex-based Harassment in Public Bill


  - Greg clark (tory) made it illegal to harrass someone bc of their sex - 71% women all ages had been sexually harassed

  - tory man protects womens rights through private members bill?
• lords effective at roles?

  - salisbury convention

  - parliamentary sovereignty

  - experts to scrutinise

  - political neutrality (32% conservative)

  - secondary legislation scrutiny

  - average age 70
• SORA 2024


  - ecthr stops rwanda flight

  - uksc found rwanda scheme unlawful

  - 2024 sora goes into parliamentary ping-pong: but lords eventually have to pass (was in manifesto)
• parliament effective at representation

  - hoc 40% women, 14% bame (proportional to population)

  - robert winston: scientific expertise & jewish representation
• parliament scrutinised gov


  - Select committees & public accounts committee- detailed scrutiny of gov and holding to account- liason committee rwanda cost 2023, priveleges committee partygate

  - Can vote against legislation (rare bc often gov has majority) (theresa may 33 defeats 2017-19, HOL rejects police crime sentencing & courts bill 2022)

  - Votes of no confidence (theresa may 2019 just partnered with DUP but showed parliament did not support)
• ministerial responsibility

  - cmr: anneliese dodds quitting 2025 over aid cuts

  - imr: johnson resigning 2023 bc of partygate

  - Priti Patel didnt resign over bullying civil servants in her department (IMR)
• pm's powers

  1. current events

  2. majority

  3. party unity

  4. opposition

  5. electoral mandate

  6. public opinion
• thatcher rule summary

  - strong majorities all 3 elections 1979-1990

  - council house ownership

  - privatisation & deregulation

  - anti-unionist
• thatcher increase power

  - decisive majorities

  - good public image

  - reputation for strength inforeign policy

  - 1983 ideaologically unitied party & strong cabinet

  - successful in falklands

  - economic boom 1983
• thatcher limiting power

  - Poor public image among the working classes.

  - Liberal and left-wing media criticised her heavily.

  - Obstinacy in pushing the unpopular poll tax policy led to her downfall.

  - In her latter years the economic situation began to deteriorate.

  - A small moderate group in the party opposed her implacably.
• Thatcher downfall

  - didnt drop poll tax even tho unpopular

  - mounting unpopularity swapped her out for Major
• johnson rule summary


  - started with mays minority, 2019 general election reasonable majority

  - brexit

  - covid mishandling

  - miller poroguing

  - fixed term parliaments act revoking
• johnson increase power

  - cabinet full of loyals

  - majority after election

  - parliamentary sovereignty: fixed term parliaments act

  - distinctive persona & public image

  - willing to break prime ministerial limits eg scrutiny (skip liason committee 2019)

  -corona: sidelined cabinet for small inner group of covid policy makers
• johnson limiting power

  - initial minority government

  - uksc

  - party disunity (brexit, covid policy, backbench rebellion over 5g 2021)

  - scandals & inconsistent policy (bad reputation)

  - economic crash (bad reputation)
• johnson downfall

  • partygate scandal and multiple resignations forced him to resign
  • 62 ministers ( 6 of which cabinet) resigned 2022
• uksc case studies

  • R (miller) v secretry of state for leaving the european union (2017)
  • R ( Miller) v the Prime Minister "Miller 2" or 'Miller/Cherry' (2019)
  • Steinfeld & Keidan v Secretary of state for International development (heteros civil partnership) (2018)
  • aaa & others nov 2023 (rwanda scheme)
• pm & cabinet

  1. loyalty (johnson 'kitchen cabinet' priti patel, sajid javid)
  2. big beasts (may appointing johnson as foreign secretary 2016 to prevent backbench rebellion)
  3. mix of views (may chequers holiday to convince cabinet of brexit deal- johnson hard brexit)
  4. expertise
  5. opponents in party