I know I’ve been away a few weeks – we all need a blog break occasionally – but I’m back with a bang, with a piece at the Guardian Law website yesterday on William Hague’s proposed “national sovereignty” clause, […]

Regular readers will know I’m opposed to fixed-term Parliaments. But that point of principle isn’t the only reason to be concerned about the Fixed-term Parliaments Bill.

I’m delighted that Nick Clegg has thought better of the proposal, initially agreed by the coalition, that Parliament should not be dissolved unless a majority of 55% votes for dissolution. This is what he said in his statement to […]

I’ve been interested by a series of pieces musing on the political consequences of Gordon Brown’s decision to remain as Prime Minister for five days following the election – rather than resigning on the Friday. First to consider this was […]

Charon QC interviewed me on Friday about the new Conservative-Liberal coalition government and its special points of legal interest. We begin with the heated debate about the “55%” rule, under which the coalition proposes this should be a fixed-term Parliament, […]

A debate has been raging on Twitter and elsewhere about the new coalition’s proposal to legislate to require a 55% Commons majority to dissolve Parliament. Quite a few people are arguing that I and others have got this wrong, and […]

The new government is only a day old, and already it’s engaging in constitutional whimmery, even though its formation and existence proves the value and robustness of the constitution we have. The coalition agreement (Part 6, page 3) says […]

I agree with the point David Cameron makes about hung Parliaments and coalition politics: the problem with them, and the proportional representation that would all but require them, is that they result in politicians, not the voters, deciding who […]

Obviously all the parties’ manifestos will contain long lists of items many of which could end up as legislation. I want to focus though on some of the “pledges” that are of particular legal interest or significance. Starting with Labour’s […]

I’m grateful to Charon for drawing my attention to Richard Gordon QC’s article in the Times last week arguing that it’s “time” for a written constitution. I’m not as impressed as he was, though. I’m thoroughly […]