Constitutional Reform: The Coalition Government Agenda

The coalition government’s Programme for Government (PDF, 476KB) contains a long list of proposals for reform of the British political system, covering reform of both Houses of Parliament, the electoral system, and the powers of local authorities and the devolved bodies in Scotland and Wales.

As part of a series of events on coalition government, Robert delivered an important lecture discussing the hurdles and challenges the government will face in implementing its large and potentially historic reformist agenda.

He argued:

• A referendum on the Alternative Vote (AV)  is a big compromise for both parties. As AV may produce quite similar results to the current system, the Lib Dems and other electoral reformers may campaign only half heartedly in favour. The difficulty in explaining the difference between AV and first past the post may lead to a confused public voting for the status quo.
• Both coalition partners agree the Lords needs to be reformed, but significant obstacles may stall this. These include resistance in the Lords and MPs' fear of an assertive upper House. There is also the question how to rebalance the Lords without increasing its size.
• Any referendum on the electoral system should be linked to referendums on reducing the size of the Commons, and Lords reform. An elected Lords is a far bigger change than AV - a joined-up debate may help clarify which chamber should be made proportional, as PR makes sense for one chamber, not both.
• Fixed term parliaments will strengthen the coalition’s stability by creating an expectation that parliament will run to full term. A five year fixed term is long compared to other countries. A four year term should be considered as an alternative, and the need to fit fixed terms alongside other electoral cycles (such as the European, Scottish and Welsh elections) should be borne in mind.
• There should be a dual threshold for mid-term dissolution - 55% for an early election, and 50% in no confidence motions.