Monitor

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Starmer takes small steps forward as democratic challenges mount
(Monitor 92, March 2026) 

Included in this issue: a crowded legislative programme; House of Lords reform moving at a snail’s pace; new reports about House of Commons reform; the Representation of the People Bill and the opportunities that it provides; flexible voting pilots; the People’s Panel for Digital ID; BBC charter renewal; the arrests of Lord (Peter) Mandelson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor; possible new financial powers for strategic authority mayors; political attention on Wales and much more.

Starmer’s constitutional timidity
(Monitor 91, November 2025)

Included in this issue: the new Ethics and Integrity Commission and changes to Business Appointment Rules; calls for the government to go further on electoral reform; a shakeup of local government in England; the relative intransigence of the House of Lords; a significant government reshuffle; the stripping of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s titles, styles and honours; the political parties’ varying approaches to the ECHR; choppier waters in Northern Ireland and much more.

Labour and the constitution: one year on
(Monitor 90, July 2025)

Included in this issue: the hereditary peers bill and lack of further progress for Lords reform; reviews of House of Commons procedure; the ‘assisted dying’ bill; relations between government and parliament; local elections; plans for electoral reforms and an ‘Ethics and Integrity Commission’; developments in deliberative democracy; reforming the European Convention on Human Rights; the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill; Romania’s presidential election; the Constitution Unit Conference 2025 and much more.

The urgency of protecting democracy and the rule of law
(Monitor 89, March 2025)

Included in this issue: progress on the bill to remove the remaining hereditary peers from the House of Lords; the activities of the House of Commons Procedure and Modernisation Committees; voting system, party funding and other electoral reforms across the UK; the government’s ambitions for civil service reform; negative briefings against the Attorney General; the white paper on English devolution; Northern Ireland, including Brexit-related developments; the new Canadian Prime Minister and much more.

Labour and the constitution: an uneven start for Starmer
(Monitor 88, November 2024)

Included in this issue: concerns over parliamentary scrutiny; the bill to remove hereditary peers; the new Modernisation Committee; new select committee membership; the Electoral Commission’s assessment of the last general election; gender quotas and debates about local election voting systems in Wales; changes to rules on voter ID and political finance; ethics and standards in public life; changes to the Crown Estate; the Attorney General’s lecture on the rule of law; the new Council of Nations and Regions; Prime Minister’s Questions in France and much more.

Starmer’s challenges and early steps towards constitutional renewal
(Monitor 87, July 2024)

Included in this issue: the establishment of a House of Commons Modernisation Committee; the government’s plans for House of Lords reform; a record-breaking general election; electoral reforms on the horizon, including votes at 16; local elections in England and Wales, including the impact of the new voting system for mayors and PCCs; electoral reforms, and new First Ministers, in Wales and Scotland; Labour’s plans for devolution in England and much more.

Pre-election politics and the constitution
(Monitor 86, March 2024)

Included in this issue: the constitutional ramifications of the Rwanda plan; parliament’s role in the UK’s air strikes in Yemen; Lindsay Hoyle in hot water; David Cameron becomes Lord Cameron; implementing the controversial Elections Act 2022; more recall petitions; the return of Simon Case and start of access talks; the King’s cancer diagnosis; the Jo Cox Civility Commission; developments in English devolution; devolution returns to Northern Ireland; judicial reform in Israel and much more.

Positioning for the next general election
(Monitor 85, November 2023)

Included in this issue: controversies over the government’s attitude to parliamentary scrutiny; recent decisions over the alleged misconduct of parliamentarians; demands for reform of House of Lords appointments; the Electoral Commission’s report on the impact of voter ID; the government’s response to multiple reports on ethical standards; progress and tensions in English devolution policy; the Senedd reform agenda; public opinion on cultural changes versus constitutional reforms and much more.

Sunak’s standards slipping
(Monitor 84, July 2023)

Included in this issue: the Privileges Committee report on Boris Johnson; ongoing concerns about parliamentary scrutiny; controversial Lords appointments; local elections, voter ID, & challenges facing election administrators; the ACOBA report on Sue Gray; developments in Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland; protests in Israel sparked by proposed judicial reforms; a new Unit report on proposed constitutional reforms and much more.

Sunak’s constitutional dilemmas
(Monitor 83, March 2023)

Included in this issue: the appointment of a new Independent Adviser on Ministers’ Interests, the deal on the Northern Ireland Protocol, the Retained EU Law Bill, voter ID requirements, standards in government, planning the coronation, the Bill of Rights Bill, the appointment of Sue Gray as Keir Starmer’s Chief of Staff, the Commission on the UK’s Future, constitutional reform in Chile and much more.

Achieving a new normal for the constitution?
(Monitor 82, November 2022)

Included in this issue: Liz Truss’s premiership; Rishi Sunak becomes Prime Minister; the death of Elizabeth II and accession of Charles III; House of Lords appointments; Electoral Commission updates; Labour and the constitution; and much more.

Johnson falls; what’s next for the constitution?
(Monitor 81, August 2022)

Included in this issue: the fall of Boris Johnson; the passage of the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act, Elections Act and Judicial Review and Courts Act; the introduction of the Online Safety Bill, Northern Ireland Protocol Bill and Bill of Rights Bill; the Brexit Freedoms Bill; changes to the Ministerial Code; Northern Ireland Assembly elections; steps towards a Scottish independence referendum; agreement on expanding the Senedd and much more.

Defending democracy
(Monitor 80, March 2022)

Included in this issue: Boris Johnson’s relationship with his backbenchers; parliamentary scrutiny in light of criticism from House of Lords committees; parliamentary standards following the Owen Paterson scandal and IEP report into John Bercow; House of Lords defeats on amendments to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill; controversial constitutional legislation and much more.

Is this what democratic backsliding feels like?
(Monitor 79, November 2021)

Included in this issue: continuing concerns about parliamentary scrutiny; the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Bill; the end of English Votes for English Laws; MPs’ conduct; the Elections Bill; the Committee on Standards in Public Life reports on regulating election finance and upholding standards in public life; executive-judiciary relations and much more.

Constitutional uncertainty on multiple fronts
(Monitor 78, July 2021)

Included in this issue: parliamentary scrutiny of lockdown announcements and the Withdrawal Agreement; the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Bill; the 18-month review of the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme; electoral reform proposals; standards in public life following scandals involving both Boris Johnson and David Cameron and much more. 

Change, continuity, and an uncertain future for the Union
(Monitor 77, March 2021)

Included in this issue: the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement; parliamentary scrutiny and the backbench Covid Recovery Group; the hybrid House of Commons; House of Lords appointments; the regulation of online harms; the departure of Dominic Cummings from Number 10; minister-civil service relations, the US election and much more.

Democratic lockdown?
(Monitor 76, November 2020)

Included in this issue: the countdown to a UK-EU trade deal; the controversial UK Internal Market Bill; patience wearing thin for parliamentary scrutiny of the government’s COVID-19 response; controversial appointments to the House of Lords; Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 reports; the ‘Russia report’; an exodus of senior civil servants; city regions and COVID-19 and more.

The constitution under COVID-19
(Monitor 75, July 2020)

Included in this issue: virtual, hybrid and physical parliament; the government’s response to the pandemic and scrutiny thereof; maternity cover for MPs; postponement of the May 2020 elections; election reform; Dominic Raab deputises for Boris Johnson; civil service reform; the FCO-DfID merger; the court system struggles to adapt to COVID-19; the pandemic’s impact on devolution and much more.

Normality, or Revolution?
(Monitor 74, March 2020)

Included in this issue: the 2019 general election and what followed; the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020; Future Relationship negotiations; Boris Johnson’s constitutional reform agenda in respect of parliament, electoral reform and the judiciary; the February reshuffle; civil service tensions; Labour and Liberal Democrat leadership contests and much more.

On the Brink
(Monitor 73, November 2019)

Brexit and the changing logic of British Politics
(Monitor 72, June 2019)

Brexit: the constitution under strain
(Monitor 71, March 2019)

Brexit: The uncertain road ahead
(Monitor 70, November 2018)

Rethinking referendums
(Monitor 69, July 2018)

A constitution in flux
(Monitor 68, March 2018)

Brexit blues
(Monitor 67, November 2017)

The most unexpected election
(Monitor 66, June 2017)

Testing constitutional times
(Monitor 65, February 2017)

Brexit and the transformation of British politics
(Monitor 64, October 2016)

The EU Referendum: A fair process?
(Monitor 63, June 2016)

The Lords: Crisis? What crisis?
(Monitor 62, February 2016)

The new government’s constitutional reform programme
(Monitor 61, October 2015)

The Conservatives’ constitutional reform programme
(Monitor 60, June 2015)

Preparing for another hung parliament
(Monitor 59, February 2015)

Scotland, England and the Union
(Monitor 58, October 2014)

Scottish independence: the countdown
(Monitor 57, June 2014)

Code of Constitutional Standards
(Monitor 56, February 2014)

Major New International Venture The Launch of Constitute: The World’s Constitutions to Read, Search and Compare
(Monitor 55, November 2013)

The Coalition at Three
(Monitor 54, June 2013)

Commission on a Bill of Rights reports
(Monitor 53, February 2013)

Lords reform: dead, or just resting?
(Monitor 52, October 2012)

Scottish independence: the battle lines are drawn
(Monitor 51, June 2012)

Will the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee change the Rules of Succession?
(Monitor 50, January 2012)

Clegg Delivers for the Conservatives
(Monitor 49, October 2011)

A Tale of Two Referendums
(Monitor 48, June 2011)

Constitutional reforms hit trouble in Parliament
(Monitor 47, January 2011)

Government haste puts flagship bills at risk
(Monitor 46, October 2010)

Election 2010: Test of the new Cabinet Manual
(Monitor 45, June 2010)

Constitutional Issues in the Election
(Monitor 44, January 2010)

Labour’s Last Fling on Constitutional Reform
(Monitor 43, September 2009)

CSPL Inquiry into MPs’ Expenses
(Monitor 42, May 2009)

Constitutional Reform Put On Hold
(Monitor 41, January 2009)

Governance of Britain One Year On
(Monitor 40, September 2008)

The ‘Constitutional Renewal’ Agenda Moves Forward
(Monitor 39, May 2008)

Scotland: Toward a New Settlement?
(Monitor 38, January 2008)

Gordon Brown and the Constitution
(Monitor 37, September 2007)

Lords Reform: Progress at Last?
(Monitor 36, May 2007)

Insert: Scottish and Welsh Elections 2007

The Union under Strain
(Monitor 35, January 2007)

Human Rights Sabre Rattling
(Monitor 34, September 2006)

Party Donors, Peerages and the Constitution
(Monitor 33, May 2006)

Insert: The Cabinet Reshuffle

Parliament Bites Back
(Monitor 32, January 2006)

Welsh Devolution: The next steps
(Monitor 31, September 2005)

FOI goes Live in 2005
(Monitor 30, April 2005)

Insert: The General Election and the Constitution

Elected regions hit the buffers
(Monitor 29, January 2005)

Voters want choice in voting methods
(Monitor 28, September 2004)

After Thirty Years, the UK again faces a Referendum
(Monitor 27, June 2004)

Voting Systems all up for Review
(Monitor 26, March 2004)

Constitutional Battles Ahead
(Monitor 25, December 2003)

The Reshuffle in Perspective
(Monitor 24, September 2003)

Rainbow Parliament in Scotland
(Monitor 23, June 2003)

Lords Reform Ends in Shambles
(Monitor 22, March 2003)

The Meaning of Modernisation
(Monitor 21, December 2002)

PR Commission
(Monitor 20, August 2002)

Regional Rejig
(Monitor 19, June 2002)

Parliament Awakening?
(Monitor 18, March 2002)

Lords Reform Stage Two: Wakeham or What?
(Monitor 17, December 2001)

Whitehall’s Constitutional Duo
(Monitor 16, September 2001)

Constitutional Shake Up in Whitehall Do Britain’s Political Parties Understand Devolution?
(Monitor 15, June 2001)

Labour’s Second Term Agenda
(Monitor 14, March 2001)

The State and the Nations
(Monitor 13, December 2000)

Rights Unleashed?
(Monitor 12, September 2000)

Legislative Logjam
(Monitor 11, June 2000)

Devolution Hots Up
(Monitor 10, March 2000)

Reforming the House of Lords and Lessons from Overseas
(Monitor 9, December 1999)

Unit Wins £1m Grant for Devolution Programme
(Monitor 8, September 1999)

Devolution Dawns
(Monitor 7, June 1999)

Constitutional Futures
(Monitor 6, March 1999)

Constitutional Futures
(Monitor 5, December 1998)

Year Two: Home Office takes the lead
(Monitor 4, September 1998)

Constitution Unit expands again
(Monitor 3, May 1998)

Lords Reform 1,2,3…
(Monitor 2, March 1998)

Constitution Unit moves to School of Public Policy in UCL
(Monitor 1, September 1997)