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SubscriptionsColumn / Investigation: The Creaking Constitution
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The British Museum Begs for Help Over 2,000 Lost Treasures – Why Did They Ignore Public Concerns in the Past?
A year ago the British Museum only reported on theft from its collection. Why has it taken so long for news of thousands of missing, stolen or damaged artefacts to emerge?
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The Great Unwatched: Who’s Tuning into the Lords? Not Many, According to Viewing Figures
Even the key showdown over the Illegal Migration Bill in the chamber had just 6,000 views
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‘We Must Defend Our Democratic Space Before It’s Too Late’
Caroline Slocock – director of think tank Civil Exchange – explores how politicians’ respect for our democratic institutions has shifted since she was the first female private secretary at No. 10 under Margaret Thatcher
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‘Labour Must Be Bold on Political Reform Beyond It’s Own Self-Interest if we are to have a Properly Functioning Democracy’
A big problem facing UK politics is that both main political parties see the status quo as in their narrow self-interest, writes former diplomat Alexandra Hall Hall
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‘A Fully-Elected House of Lords Is Not the Answer to Much-Needed Reform’
Boris Johnson’s controversial appointments to the upper chamber show change is required – but Labour may not be on the right track
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The Missing Million-Pound Donor Lords
Byline Times analyses the attendance rate of 12 Peers who have donated more than £1 million to the party that appointed them
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Public Overwhelmingly Opposed to Liz Truss Dishing Out Gongs and Peerages in Resignation Honours
Exclusive polling for Byline Times suggests that the public rejects the short-lived Prime Minister being able to create new peers in the Lords
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The Idea to Overhaul the House of Lords that Politicians Aren’t Talking About
YouGov polling suggests strong potential support across the board for a very different chamber to replace the House of Lords
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The Coronation: ‘A Spectacle of Apathy’
It is almost as though Queen Elizabeth’s death has brought down the old scaffolding, writes Jonathan Lis
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The Coronation: ‘It’s Only by Chance Prince Andrew Isn’t Being Crowned King’
Baroness Jenny Jones explores how reform of the monarchy could work better for our democracy
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The Coronation: ‘Picking the Wrong Constitutional Fights’
Introducing an electoral system of proportional representation should take priority over conversations about the future nature of Britain’s head of state, writes AC Grayling
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The Coronation: ‘Is It Lese Majeste to Want Less Majesty?’
King Charles’ Coronation is a missed opportunity to move monarchy into the modern era, writes former diplomat Alexandra Hall Hall
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LOCAL ELECTIONS 2023: Left-of-Centre Vote ‘Hopelessly Split as Twice as Many Progressives Running Against the Right in England’
Campaigners warn of vote-splitting as new analysis finds that the ‘progressive’ vote will be more split than the right in 69% of England’s council wards on 4 May
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Keir Starmer Faces Fresh Calls to Back Westminster Voting Overhaul
The Labour Leader is being urged to keep his promises on reforming democracy, Josiah Mortimer reports
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Leaping Over the Lords
Labour’s announcement that it would abolish the UK’s unelected second chamber is a headline-grabbing idea with little thought of the problems involved, writes AC Grayling
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Ministers Should Face Legal Sanctions for Breaking Rules, say MPs
David Hencke reports on the Commons Committee which proposes wholesale reform of the ‘toothless’ regulators supposed to safeguard propriety in public office
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‘Amateur Hour in British Politics’
As more and more ministers are handed top jobs for their loyalty rather than their competence, former diplomat Alexandra Hall Hall considers what we can do about this democratic deficit
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The Causes and Consequences of Political Chaos: MPs Versus Party Members
The genesis of the current chaos lies in the main political parties deciding to allow their members to choose their leaders, writes David Keys
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‘Small Constitutional Changes Could Urgently Address the Big Mess We Find Ourselves In’
Frances Crook, co-convener of the Commission on Political Power, sets out why incremental shifts in the role of monarchy and an over-powerful executive could strengthen democracy in the unlikely event of wholesale reform
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The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee: An Unprecedented Reign – But What Next for 21st Century Britain?
The Queen’s 70 years on the throne have seen Britain undergo extraordinary change – how will the monarchy’s constitutional and societal role continue to evolve in the years ahead?
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A Nation Split on the Monarchy
New polling by Omnisis for Byline Times shows a significant body of support outside England for an elected head of state
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The Boris Johnson Era has Shown how Vulnerable the UK is to Electoral Autocracy
Partygate showed that the UK’s creaking constitution gives little protection against a Prime Minister determined to ignore convention and the rule of law, writes Adam Bienkov
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Risking Our Democracy
Former diplomat Alexandra Hall Hall argues that the time has come for serious discussions about reforming Britain’s political structures
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Former Conservative Justice Secretary Condemns Johnson’s Plan to Curtail Rule of Law
David Gauke believes that a proposal to retrospectively overrule Supreme Court decisions stems from the Prime Minister’s view that any constraint on his power is “intolerable”
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Light and Shadows: Law-Makers and Populist Attacks – A Transatlantic Comparison
Amid the multiple similarities between the populism of Donald Trump and Brexit, Peter Jukes and Heidi Siegmund Cuda look at the stark differences between the way in which the UK Parliament and the US Congress deal with threats to democracy
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Johnsonian Policy: The Lord of Misrule
Professor Chris Painter looks at the Government’s unprecedented and unilaterist policy-making and the dire implications for the quality of UK governance
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The Death of the Last Good Chap
Why do those in positions of power now evade accountability despite numerous examples of incompetence, dangerous liaisons, lies, and even corruption at the heart of Boris Johnson’s Government? Because the British political system allows them to, says Gavin Esler
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‘Dancing Queen?’: The Fixed Term Parliaments Act and the Return of the Royal Prerogative
Historian Robert Saunders considers the constitutional consequences of a new bill which transfers the power to dissolve Parliament to the Crown and removes checks on the Prime Minister
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Subverting the ‘Will of the People’: How Brexit Sowed the Wind
Chris Grey explores the forces unleashed by Brexit and how they reveal the weaknesses of Britain’s unwritten Constitution – vulnerable in its reliance on norms and conventions to deliver representative democracy
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‘Good Chaps’ Left the Building a While Ago, Britain – It’s Time to Wake Up
Hardeep Matharu argues that Labour MP Dawn Butler’s removal from the House of Commons after calling Boris Johnson a ‘liar’ finally exposed the structural failings at the heart of the British state
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Boris Johnson Halts Update to Government Conduct ‘Bible’
The Cabinet Manual is 10 years out of date, yet the Prime Minister has shelved plans to refresh it, reports David Hencke
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The Death Of Convention
Stephen Colegrave considers how Boris Johnson has used the vagueness and vulnerability of Britain’s unwritten constitution to erode democracy
