Recent years have seen many changes to election regulations in the UK. These changes affect key aspects of how elections are fought and administered, including party spending, voter identification, the voting rights of citizens living abroad, and the electoral system used to elect mayors and police and crime commissioners.

So what has changed, what effects might these changes have, and what challenges do they present for parties, candidates, and electoral administrators? An expert panel discussed these questions a week before the 2 May local elections.

Speakers

• Laura Lock – Deputy Chief Executive of the Association of Electoral Administrators
• Lord (Paul) Tyler – Liberal Democrat peer and former MP, co-author of the 2023 book Can Parliament Take Back Control?
• Professor Alistair Clark – Professor of Political Science, Newcastle University

Chair: Professor Alan Renwick – Deputy Director of the Constitution Unit

Read a briefing from the Hansard Society on general election rules and regulations: https://www.hansardsociety.org.uk/publications/briefings/general-election-rules-and-regulations.

Links

Website: www.ucl.ac.uk/constitution-unit

Mailing list: www.ucl.ac.uk/constitution-unit/get-involved

Blog: https://constitution-unit.com/

The UK’s recent air strikes on the Houthis in Yemen have renewed discussion about parliament’s role in approving military action. The government is not constitutionally required to consult parliament on military deployments, and can choose whether and when to seek MPs’ approval. So what is parliament’s current role? Should this be changed, as some opposition parties have suggested? If so, what are some of the possibilities and challenges?

In this webinar, an expert panel discuss parliament’s current role, and whether reform is desirable or feasible.

Speakers:

David Lidington – Chair of the Royal United Services Institute, former Conservative MP for Aylesbury, and former Minister for the Cabinet Office, Lord Chancellor, and Leader of the House of Commons

Dr Veronika Fikfak – Associate Professor in International Law, University College London

Dr James Strong – Senior Lecturer in British Politics and Foreign Policy, Queen Mary University of London

Chair: Lisa James – Research Fellow, Constitution Unit

Diagram of parliamentary war convention

Useful reading:

• How might Keir Starmer codify his Prevention of Military Intervention Act? by Robert Hazell
• Parliament’s Secret War by Veronika Fikfak and Hayley J. Hooper
• The war powers of the British parliament: What has been established, and what remains unclear? by James Strong

Links

Website: www.ucl.ac.uk/constitution-unit

Mailing list: www.ucl.ac.uk/constitution-unit/get-involved

Blog: https://constitution-unit.com/

Protest is a fundamental part of democracy. From thousands attending pro-Palestine marches in London, to farmers driving their tractors into Paris, Berlin, and Cardiff, to Just Stop Oil spraying UCL’s famous portico orange – protests are rarely out of the spotlight.

But what do protests actually achieve? Do they affect political debate and policy outcomes?

A new study sheds light on that, focusing on the impact of climate protests here in the UK on what MPs talk about – both in parliament itself and online.

One of the co-authors of that article is Tom Fleming, Lecturer in British and Comparative Politics, who joins us for this episode.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Barrie, C., Fleming, T. G., and Rowan, S. S. (2023) ‘Does Protest Influence Political Speech? Evidence from UK Climate Protest, 2017-2019’, British Journal of Political Science.

Links

Website: www.ucl.ac.uk/constitution-unit

Mailing list: www.ucl.ac.uk/constitution-unit/get-involved

Blog: https://constitution-unit.com/