Johnson's Constitutional Reform Agenda: Conference, 17–18 June 2021

The government had a wide-ranging agenda for constitutional reforms on page 48 of its 2019 election manifesto. This conference, co-organised by the Constitution Unit, the Department of Politics & International Relations at the University of Oxford, and UK in a Changing Europe (UKICE), brought together politicians, policy-makers and academic experts to discuss the government’s progress so far, and what lies ahead. This page contains video and audio recordings of the panel and Q&A sessions from across the two-day conference, and links to suggested reading materials.

Day 1, Thursday 17 June

• Panel 1: Keynote speech by Robert Buckland QC MP
• Panel 2: Judicial review, human rights and judiciary 
• Panel 3: Review of the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011

Day 2, Friday 18 June

• Panel 1: Elections and referendums - updating campaign regulation for a digital era
• Panel 2: Devolution and future of the Union
• Panel 3: Re-balancing between parliament, executive and the courts

Keynote speech: Overview of the government’s agenda

Speaker: Lord Chancellor, Robert Buckland QC MP.

Chair: Prof Meg Russell FBA, Constitution Unit, UCL.

Listen to the panel session on our podcast 

Suggested reading:

• Transcript of the speech by Robert Buckland, published 17 June 2021. 
• The UK’s Post-Brexit ‘Constitutional Unsettlement’, by Colm O’Cinneide on Verfassungsblog (referenced in the transcript of the speech), published 16 April 2021.
• Conceptual overreach threatens the quality of public reason, by John Tasioulas on Aeon Essays (referenced in the transcript of the speech), published 29 January 2021. 
• Flexing the constitution, response to Buckland’s speech by Joshua Rozenberg on A Lawyer Writes, published 19 June 2021. 
• Robert Buckland’s call for the courts to narrow their remit is misguided, response to Buckland’s speech by Jonathan Jones on the Institute for Government blog, published 19 June 2021. 
• Calls for the courts to narrow their remit are deeply troubling, response to Buckland’s speech by Jonathan Jones in the Independent, published 19 June 2021. 

Judicial review, human rights and judiciary

Speakers: Lord Faulks QC, Chair of the Independent Review of Administrative Law;  Prof Kate O’Regan, Director of the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights, Oxford; Joshua Rozenberg QC (Hon), legal commentator and journalist.

Chair: Prof Catherine Barnard, Oxford and UKICE.

Listen to the panel session on our podcast

Suggested reading:

• How do you solve a problem like judicial review reform?, by Joe Tomlinson and Lewis Graham for the Constitution Unit blog, published 29 January 2021.  
• IRAL: The Panel Report and the Government’s Response, by Paul Craig for the UKCLA blog, published 22 March 2021. 

Review of the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011

Speakers: Lord McLoughlin, Chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Review of the FTPA; Chris Bryant MP, member of the Joint Committee on Review of FTPA; Prof Petra Schleiter, Oxford; and Prof Alison Young, Cambridge.

Chair: Prof Meg Russell FBA, Constitution Unit, UCL.

• Can Boris Johnson simply repeal the Fixed-term Parliaments Act?, by Robert Hazell on the Constitution Unit blog, published 5 February 2021. 
• FTPA Joint Committee lays down marker for the future, by Robert Hazell and Meg Russell on the Constitution Unit blog, published 12 April 2021. 
• Joint evidence submission by Robert Hazell and Meg Russell to the Joint Committee on the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act.
• The Draft Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 (Repeal) Bill: Turning Back the Clock?, by Alison Young on the UKCLA blog, published 4 December 2020. 
• Repealing the Fixed-term Parliaments Act, by Mark Elliott in the Public Law for Everyone blog, published 2 December 2020.

Elections and Referendums - updating campaign regulation for a digital era

Speakers: John Pullinger, Chair of Electoral Commission; Dr Kate Dommett, Sheffield; and Prof Rachel Gibson, Manchester.

Chair: Dr Alan Renwick, Constitution Unit, UCL.

Listen to the panel session on our podcast

Suggested reading: 

• Why we need an independent Electoral Commission, by Alan Renwick and Charlotte Kincaid on the Constitution Unit blog, published 7 October 2020.
• The government’s electoral reform agenda: an assessment, by Alan Renwick on the Constitution Unit blog, published 12 February 2020.
• Constitutional reformers need to tackle six key questions about the regulation of digital campaigning, by Kate Dommett on the Constitution Unit blog, published 18 June 2021.
• Online harms to democracy: the government’s change of approach, by Alex Walker on the Constitution Unit blog, published 13 April 2021. 
• The UK Electoral Integrity Bill, policy brief by Toby S. James, Stuart Wilks-Heeg and Alistair Clark, mentioned by Kate Dommett in response to a question on voter ID, published 2 May 2021. 
• Increasing Parliamentary Accountability in Electoral Policy, written statement made by Chloe Smith (Minister for the Constitution) on 17 June 2021.

Devolution and the future of the Union

Speakers: Prof Adam Tomkins, Glasgow; Prof Laura McAllister, Cardiff; Prof Katy Hayward, Queen’s University Belfast; and Prof John Denham, Southampton.

Chair: Prof Robert Hazell, Constitution Unit, UCL.

Listen to the panel session on our podcast

Suggested reading: 

• The sovereignty conundrum and the uncertain future of the Union, by Michael Keating on the Constitution Unit blog, published 28 April 2021. 
• Five key questions about coronavirus and devolution, by Akash Paun on the Constitution Unit blog, published 31 May 2021. 
• The Final Report by the Working Group on Unification Referendums on the Island of Ireland, published by the Constitution Unit on 26 May 2021.
• The Internal Market Bill: implications for devolution, by Nicola McEwen on the Centre on Constitutional Change blog, published 11 September 2020.
• England, Englishness and the Labour Party, by John Denham and Daniel Devine, Political Quarterly, August 2018.
• A Parliament that Works for Wales, by Laura McAllister for the National Assembly for Wales, published 2017. 
• ‘Answering the West Lothian Question? A Critical Assessment of “English Votes for English Laws” in the UK Parliament’, Daniel Gover and Michael Kenny, Parliamentary Affairs, 2018. 

Re-balancing between parliament, executive and the courts

Speakers: Dominic Grieve QC, former Attorney General; Peter Riddell, Commissioner for Public Appointments; Prof Meg Russell FBA, Constitution Unit, UCL; and Prof Tim Bale, Queen Mary, University of London.

Chair: Prof Petra Schleiter, Oxford

Listen to the panel session on our podcast

Suggested reading: 

• The public appointments system is under strain: it needs more clarity and transparency, by Peter Riddell on the Constitution Unit blog, published 16 May 2021.  
• The anatomy of democratic backsliding: could it happen here?, by Stephan Haggard and Robert R Kaufman on the Constitution Unit blog, published 10 June 2021. 
• The marginalisation of the House of Commons under Covid has been shocking; a year on, parliament’s role must urgently be restored, by Meg Russell, Ruth Fox, Ronan Cormacain and Joe Tomlinson on the Constitution Unit blog, published 21 April 2021. 
• The government’s proposed Constitution, Democracy and Rights Commission: what, why and how?, by Meg Russell and Alan Renwick on the Constitution Unit blog, published 14 February 2021.