News

Johnson's Constitutional Reform Agenda

Key UK policy makers, including members of Government and Parliament, will come together with academics and policy experts for a knowledge exchange conference next month to discuss the Government’s constitutional reforms.

 

The conference - Johnson’s Constitutional Reform Agenda – has been co-organised by the Department of Politics & International Relations at the University of Oxford, the Constitution Unit at UCL, and UK in a Changing Europe (UKICE).

The event takes place online on Thursday, 17 and Friday, 18 June (9:30am-1pm, daily) and brings together politicians, policy experts and academics to discuss the government’s progress so far, and what lies ahead.

The government outlined a wide-ranging agenda for constitutional reforms on page 48 of its 2019 election manifesto.  After two years in power, how much has been achieved, what remains to be done, and what further constitutional change can be expected - whether part of the government’s agenda or not? 

Over the two days, the conference will explore some of the most consequential constitutional questions before us at this time - from devolution and the future of the union to the review of the Fixed Term Parliaments Act.

Speakers include Lord Chancellor, Robert Buckland, QC MP, Kate O’Regan; Director of the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights, Oxford; Lord McLoughlin, Chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Review of the FTPA; Lord Faulks QC (Chair of the Independent Review of Administrative Law); and John Pullinger, Chair of the Electoral Commission.

Petra Schleiter, joint head of DPIR, said: “In the 2019 election, the Conservative Party promised wide-ranging constitutional reforms of some of the most fundamental rules defining democracy and the political system in the UK.

“Its ambitions included reforming the relationship between the executive, parliament and the courts; the role of judicial review; executive powers deriving from the royal prerogative; the role of the House of Lords; and relations between citizens and the state, including the Human Rights Act and access to justice.

“In addition, the government also pledged to introduce a requirement for voter identification and to repeal the Fixed-term Parliaments Act.

“Since then, the May 2021 elections have also placed devolution, Scotland and the future of the Union on the political agenda.

“This conference brings together academics and key actors who are shaping these unfolding reforms to analyse and evaluate what has been achieved and what further change can be expected."

The free event will be held by Zoom webinar. To join, register here: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_stQ9AUoPSDC4p1EqZexmtw

Further information: