Political system UK

 

More power to backbench Members of Parliament - In the British political system, the party in Government has considerably more power in the legislature than the Opposition parties and in all the political parties the whips have considerable power over backbenchers. Ordinary MPs could be given more influence by measures such as more independent and stronger all-party Select Committees, more unwhipped votes (especially during the Committee Stage of Bills), more support for Private Members' Bills (those initiated by backbenchers rather than Ministers), more power to scrutinise Government spending, and a new power to subject ministers to confirmation hearings. The parties will bring forward the proposals of the Wright Committee for reform to the House of Commons in full - starting with the proposed committee for management of programmed business and including government business within its scope - by the third year of the Parliament.

 

The power to force a by-election - Currently a by-election occurs only when an MP dies or resigns or is sentenced to more than one year in prison. The Government has published a Bill proposing that a by-election could be forced if 10% of eligible constituents - around 6,800 in a typical constituency - voted for a recall. The ousted Member of Parliament would be free to stand for re-election. However, the proposal has been criticised on the grounds that the recall petition would only be triggered by a vote of no confidence in the House of Commons or a prison sentence.

 

More devolution nationally and locally - The Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly and the Northern Ireland Assembly all have devolved powers and all of them want more, while many local authorities feel that, over past decades, their powers have been eroded by the national parliament. Some believe that a revitalisation of the British political system requires more devolution of power. The parties have agreed to the implementation of the Calman Commission proposals on further Scottish devolution and the offer of a referendum on further Welsh devolution. Also the parties intend to promote the radical devolution of power and greater financial autonomy to local government and community groups. This will include a full review of local government finance.

 

Use of e-petitions - Citizens are to be encouraged to use the Government web site Direct.gov to create electronic petitions to promote specific political reforms. It is likely that the most popular petition will be drafted as a Bill and presented to Parliament, while those petitions that reach a certain level of support - probably 100,000 signatures - will be guaranteed a debate in the House of Commons.

 

Funding and lobbying - All political parties find it difficult to raise the funding necessary to promote their messages and run their election campaigns and, in practice, the Labour Party receives much of its funding from a small number of trade unions and the Conservative Party is backed mainly by large companies. It has been argued that democracy would be better served and parties could be more independent if there was public funding of political parties with the actual level of funding depending of some combination of candidates and votes. The parties have agreed to pursue a detailed agreement on limiting donations and reforming party funding in order to remove 'big money' from politics. Also the parties intend to tackle lobbying through introducing a statutory register of lobbyists.

Candidates for further change would include the following proposals:

A wider franchise - At present, every citizen over 18 can vote but it has been suggested that the voting age should be lowered to 16. In the current Coalition Government, the Liberal Democrats support such an extension to the franchise but the Conservatives oppose it. Meanwhile the Scottish Nationalist Government proposes to allow 16 and 17 year olds to vote in the planned referendum on Scottish independence to be held in 2014.

 

A wider process for selecting Parliamentary candidates - Today candidates are selected by meetings of members of the political party that the candidate will represent in a future election, but it has been proposed that the process could be opened up to anyone in the relevant constituency who has declared themselves a supporter of that party, a process something like the primaries in the United States.

 

A more modern culture for the Commons - Many of the traditions and much of the language of the Commons date back centuries and reformers argue that it is time for change to make the proceedings more accessible and acceptable to the public and electorate. The sort of changes mooted are no ceremonial dress for Commons staff, reform of terms such as "My right honourable friend", and a less gladiatorial version of Prime Minister's Questions.

 

Limits on the Royal Prerogative - At the moment, the Prime Minister alone can exercise powers which once used to belong to the monarch, such as the right to apppoint certain judges and bishops, the signing of international treaties, and the declaring of war, but this could be changed so that Parliament has to decide such matters.

 

A domestic Bill of Rights - The UK has a Bill of Rights but it is the European Convention on Human Rights which, since 2000, has been part of the domestic law and therefore enforcable in national courts as well as the European Court. Some people believe that Britain should draft its own specific Bill of Rights. The idea is currently being examined by an eight person commission.

 

A written constitution - For historical reasons, the UK is one of only three countries in the world not to have a written constitution (the others are New Zealand and Israel). The most radical proposal for constitutional change - supported especially by the Liberal Democrat Party - is that the country should now have a formal written constitution, presumably following some sort of constitutional convention and possibly a referendum.

So the scene is perhaps set for more change than for many decades.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A list of used literature:

 

1. Prospect Magazine - UK based political magazine focussing on British and international politics, cultural essays and arguments

2. British Politics - the only academic journal devoted purely to the study of political issues in Britain

3. Directgov, main entry point for citizens to the UK government

4. Directgov - Guide to Government

5. Official UK parliament website

6. Official UK parliamentary membership by party

7. British Government and Politics on the Internet from the Keele University School of Politics

8. British Politics and Policy at LSE The London School of Economics' UK politics and policy blog

9. ePolitix - UK Politics news website

10. British Government and Politics Compiled by a retired English Librarian

11. Women's Parliamentary Radio Interviews and resources about women politicians in the UK

12. M.Y. Mezey Comparative Legislatures, Durham, 1979

13. Entony Sempson Anatomy of Britain, 1992