UK Constitution

Question 1

What are the five main principles of the traditional UK constitution?

Answer 1

• Parliamentary sovereignty
• Parliamentary government
• Constitutional monarch
• Unitary state
• Rule of law

Question 2

What are the five sources of the UK constitution?

Answer 2

• Statute law
• Common law
• Conventions
• Authoritative works
• Treaties

Question 3

What is Common Law?

Answer 3

• Customs and judicial precedent (when judicial decisions clarify the meaning of statute or make rulings in the absent of statute)
  e.g., royal prerogative

Question 4

What is Statute Law?

Answer 4

• All legislation created by parliament.

e.g. 2005 constitutional reform act & 1918 representation of the Peoples act

Question 5

What is the most important source of the UK Constitution?

Answer 5

• Statute law due to the principle of parliamentary sovereignty.
• All other sources can be overridden by statute law.

Question 6

What are conventions?

Answer 6

• Customs and practices which are accepted as the way of doing things.
• Can be removed or made permanent by statute law.

Question 7

What’s an example of a convention that became statute law?

Answer 7

• Fixed term parliament act 2011.
• It put into law the convention that the government should resign if it is defeated in a vote of no confidence.

Question 8

What are treaties?

Answer 8

• Agreements signed with other counties.

E.g the treaty that entered Britain into the EEC in 1972 and the Maastricht Treaty (1992) which established the EU.

Question 9

Why do we need a limited government?

Answer 9

• form of limiting power and checks, providing protection for the individual
  ‘Man is not free unless the government is limited’ -Reagan

Question 10

What is parliamentary sovereignty?

Answer 10

Supreme, restricted power, which can in theory make, repeal or amend any law.

Question 11

What is the ‘fusion of powers’?

Answer 11

Where the executive branch and legislative branch of gov intermingle.

Question 12

How many seats are needed to fork a majority?

Answer 12

326

Question 13

What is the Fixed Term Parliament Act 2011?

Answer 13

• Removed the PM’s power to hold an early election and instead handed control to the House of Commons.
• Under those rules an early election could only be held under certain circumstances - such as if two-thirds of MPs agreed to one.
• It sets date of election to be every 5 years, reducing manipulation of the date. (There was an option to start an election based on opinion polls)
• It was demanded by the Liberal Democrats.

Question 14

What happened in 2022 which challenges the significance of the 2011 Fixed Term Parliament Act?

Answer 14

• After winning the 2019 election, the Conservatives introduced a new law - called the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022.
• This restored the PM’s traditional power to call elections at a time of their choosing.

Question 15

What was the Freedom of information act 2000?

Answer 15

• It was a response to widespread perception that there was a need for greater transparency in gov.

E.g MP expenses scandal 2009 (The disclosure of widespread misuse of allowances and expenses permitted aroused widespread anger among the UK public).
Also, in 2023, Labour used this act to gain an insight into gov spending in private schools like Eton.

Question 16

What were labours principles to constitutional reform?

Answer 16

• modernisation
• democratisation
• devolution
• stronger protection of rights

Question 17

What was the HofL reform act 2014?

Answer 17

• Peers given right to retire/resign their seats.
• Also allows them to be removed as a result of a serious criminal offence.
• 58 resigned under this term by April 2017.

Question 18

What was the Scottish Act 2016?

Answer 18

• Gave Scottish gov greater power of tax.
• Act recognised permanence of devolution and that a ref would be required before Scotland parliament could be abolished.

Question 19

What was the Investigatory Powers Act 2016? (Snoopers charter)

Answer 19

• Expand the electronic surveillance powers of the UK intelligence and police.
• Aims to improve the safeguards of the exercise of those powers.

(Regarded as a breach to human rights)

Question 20

What was the Repeal of the European Communities Act 1972?

Answer 20

Withdrawal of EU 2020

Question 21

Define devolution.

Answer 21

Transfer of political power from a central to subnational gov.

Question 22

What are the ‘reserved powers’ Westminster keeps?

Answer 22

Power over defence and foreign policy.

Question 23

What is a primary legislative power Scotland holds?

Answer 23

• Tax varying powers up to 10p in £.
• Domestic policy (over transport, education etc).

Question 24

How many seats did SNP gain in 2019?

Answer 24

48/59 available

Question 25

What was the turnout of the 2014 ref?

Answer 25

85%

Question 26

What are examples to where Scottish devolution has made a difference?

Answer 26

- care for elderly is free - prescriptions are free - no uni tuition fees - first to introduce centre assessed grades and vaccine passports (2021)

Question 27

What % of Scotland wanted to remain in EU?

Answer 27

62%

Question 28

What was the good Friday agreement 1998?

Answer 28

- Nationalist and unionist conflict reached an agreement. - First and deputy first ministers must be one from each community.

Question 29

How can the Good Friday Agreement be seen as failed?

Answer 29

- No assembly meeting for 3 years (2017-20) - currently, the DUP is refusing to cooperate in governing due to disagreement over the Windsor Framework/ Brexit deal (2023)

Question 30

How does STV help conflict in NI?

Answer 30

- Encourages a coalition or a minority gov. - Formal agreement between Sinn Fein and DUP - 63% turnout in 2022.

Question 31

What was the voter turnout for the Welsh assembly in 2021?

Answer 31

47%

Question 32

What taxes are the Welsh Assembly in control of?

Answer 32

Land tax and landfill tax.

Question 33

What % voted against Scottish independence?

Answer 33

55%

Question 34

What was the turnout for the London mayor election in 2021?

Answer 34

42%

Question 35

What was the Salisbury convention?

Answer 35

HofL won’t vote against gov bill that was in their manifesto more than 2/3 times

Question 36

What are reasons for a codified constitution?

Answer 36

- Human rights will be strongly safe and guarded for minorities and individuals. - PM has too much executive power. - Clarity to UK citizens. - More transparent. - Would give the judicial branch greater influence in their rulings, upholding the HRA and the constitution as it would be sovereign and entrenched.

Question 37

What are two reasons to keep an uncodified constitution?

Answer 37

- Lack of demand - Flexible (COVID, terrorism) - HRA and legislation works

Question 38

Define 'constitution'.

Answer 38

the basic principles and laws.

Question 39

What was the turnout for the NI election in 2022?

Answer 39

63% turnout

Question 40

Why can the STV in NI be seen as a failure?

Answer 40

Sinn Féin became the largest party in 2022, challenging the point of the STV promoting the chances of a coalition gov.

Question 41

What was the House of Lords Act 1999?

Answer 41

- It removed the right of most hereditary peers to sit and vote in the Lords. - The Act allowed for 92 hereditary peers to remain in the House until full reform.

Question 42

What did the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 do?

Answer 42

- Provided the separating of the judiciary from the legislature (Parliament) and the executive (government). - It reformed the office of the Lord Chancellor who, as head of the judiciary, appoints judges. - Established an independent Judicial Appointments Commission. - Sets up a supreme court, independent from the House of Lords, with its own appointments system, staff, budget and building (from October 2009).

Question 43

What is the Salisbury Doctrine/convention?

Answer 43

- The Convention ensures that major Government Bills can get through the Lords when the Government of the day has no majority in the Lords. - In practice, it means that the Lords does not try to vote down at second or third reading or a Government Bill mentioned in an election manifesto. - The Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949 define the powers of the House of Lords in relation to Public Bills (including Private Members' Bills). - All Bills have to be passed by both the House of Commons and the House of Lords except in certain circumstances.

Question 44

How are money bills passed?

Answer 44

- They are certified by the Speaker and deal with taxation of public expenditure. - Money Bills start in the Commons and must receive Royal Assent no more than a month after being introduced in the Lords even if the Lords has not passed them.

Question 45

What power does the Lords have over most other Commons Bills that are not money bills?

Answer 45

The Lords can hold up a Bill it disagrees with for about a year but ultimately the elected House of Commons can reintroduce it in the following session and pass it without the Lords' consent.