Parliament Matters

After an awful set of elections for Labour across England, Scotland and Wales, are the Prime Minister’s days numbered? Could the Cabinet revolt? Might a rival formally launch a leadership challenge? Or might it take another defining crisis – a further final straw – to trigger a revolt by the parliamentary foot soldiers?

We also examine how Labour’s leadership rules operate, including the nomination requirements for a leadership challenger to trigger a race. A key decision would be timing: would any contest timetable give Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham, the opportunity to attempt a return to the Commons.

The elections have demonstrated that Labour is beset by political rivals on all sides – Reform on the right flank, the Greens, Lib Dems and SNP on the left, and now Plaid Cymru in what historically was its Welsh heartland. So, would an alternative leader offer a more effective response to these multiple threats than Sir Keir Starmer?

Meanwhile the Scottish and Welsh results raise fresh political and constitutional tensions for the UK Government and Parliament to address. Will invigorated nationalist governments in Edinburgh and Cardiff start picking more fights with Westminster over policy, money and legislative consent?

And in Cardiff, will the process of installing a new and non-Labour Welsh Government go smoothly? With no party winning an overall majority in Wales, it looks like there will be a Plaid-led administration: but it may find itself mired in week-to-week deal-making with smaller parties, and subject to professional fouls at key moments like the Budget. Could that provide a taste of things to come at Westminster, after the next general election?
_____

🎓 Learn more using our resources for the issues mentioned in this episode.

❓ Send us your questions about Parliament:

✅ Subscribe to our newsletter.

📱 Follow us across social media @HansardSociety / @hansardsociety.bsky.social

£ - Support the Hansard Society and this podcast by making a donation today.

Parliament Matters is a Hansard Society production supported by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust.

Presenters: Mark D’Arcy and Ruth Fox
Producer: Richard Townsend
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Keir Starmer has faced “ordeal by Parliament” this week. A tense statement in the House of Commons over his handling of Peter Mandleson’s nomination as Ambassador to the United States was followed by an emergency debate and then an awkward session of PMQs. Meanwhile the Foreign Affairs Committee held a series of hearings to pick over the PM’s account of what he knew about Mandelson’s security vetting, and when he knew it.

We are joined this week by veteran parliamentary lobby journalist Tony Grew (the founder of @PARLYapp on Twitter/X) to dissect a rapidly unfolding political drama that’s beginning to resemble a full-blown parliamentary crisis.

We examine Starmer’s account, the Foreign Affairs Committee’s performance, and the testimony of its key witness, recently sacked Foreign Office Permanent Secretary Sir Ollie Robins, alongside the growing unease among Labour MPs.

With prorogation looming, questions remain over timing. Could the suspension of Parliament be used to sidestep another PMQs on Wednesday 29 March? Will the Opposition try to prolong proceedings on remaining legislation to force Starmer back to the Despatch Box. Or might they prefer to be able to accuse him of being “frit.”

And as the first session of the 2024 Parliament draws to a close, we discuss the emerging personalities shaping the Commons. Spoiler: one of them is a dog!
____

🎓 Learn more using our resources for the issues mentioned in this episode.

❓ Send us your questions about Parliament:

✅ Subscribe to our newsletter.

📱 Follow us across social media @HansardSociety / @hansardsociety.bsky.social

£ - Support the Hansard Society and this podcast by making a donation today.

Parliament Matters is a Hansard Society production supported by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust.

Presenters: Mark D’Arcy and Ruth Fox
Producer: Richard Townsend
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A bill to deliver the Government’s proposed “EU reset” is set to be a centrepiece of May’s King’s Speech. It will reportedly give Ministers powers to update UK law in line with certain EU rules (so-called “dynamic alignment”) in areas such as animal and plant health (known as Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS)), energy co-operation and emissions trading. Much of this is likely to be done through delegated legislation, including the use of controversial Henry VIII powers, allowing Ministers to amend primary legislation with limited parliamentary scrutiny. We are joined by Professor Catherine Barnard (University of Cambridge) to explore what dynamic alignment really means, why the UK is already tracking some EU rules, and whether this approach is a pragmatic economic necessity or a sidestepping of Parliament. We also discuss how Westminster and the devolved legislatures will need to adapt if they are to spot and shape policy before it is set in legislative stone by the European Commission.

In a rare show of resistance, Parliament’s usually low-profile Ecclesiastical Committee has blocked a package of reforms to Church of England governance. What’s behind the clash over accountability and safeguarding and why have delegated powers become a sticking point here too?

As the parliamentary session draws to a close, attention turns to prorogation. Once Parliament is prorogued, MPs and Peers cannot be recalled except in the most exceptional circumstances. In an increasingly volatile world, is it wise to shut down accountability for a fortnight? We explore the risks and suggest a possible way around the problem.
_____

🎓 Learn more using our resources for the issues mentioned in this episode.

❓ Send us your questions about Parliament:

✅ Subscribe to our newsletter.

📱 Follow us across social media @HansardSociety / @hansardsociety.bsky.social

£ - Support the Hansard Society and this podcast by making a donation today.

Parliament Matters is a Hansard Society production supported by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust.

Presenters: Mark D’Arcy and Ruth Fox
Producer: Gareth Jones

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Government has announced that the State Opening of Parliament and King’s Speech will take place on Wednesday 13 May - just as we predicted last Autumn!

However, Ministers have not confirmed when prorogation – marking the end of the current Session – will take place. It is likely to be the last week in April but could slip into the week of the local elections. That means when Parliament returns after the Easter recess there will potentially be just 12 sitting days left for the Government to get all its remaining Bills through to Royal Assent, a period of legislative scramble known as the “wash-up”.

This week Mark and Ruth are joined by the Hansard Society’s researcher, Matthew England, to explore the legislative loose ends still hanging in the balance. Any Bills not agreed by both the Commons and the Lords before the Session ends will fall — raising the stakes for last-minute negotiations.

The pressure is on. Peers have made significant amendments on a range of high-profile issues, including revenge porn, restricting social media access for under-16s, victims’ access to court transcripts, and AI and online safety. This is the House of Lords’ moment of maximum leverage – so expect intense deal-making and potential Government concessions.

But there’s also high political drama in play. Will opposition in the Lords kill the Bill to implement the UK’s treaty to transfer the Chagos Islands – home to the strategically vital Diego Garcia airbase – to Mauritius? Might the Government try and revive it later using the Parliament Act – or quietly let it drift?

And what about the Hillsborough Law , now stranded in the Commons? While the Government could carry it over into the next Session, unresolved questions remain – particularly whether a “duty of candour” should apply to the security services. Could failure to pass the Bill this Session come at a political cost for the Prime Minister?

We then turn to listener questions where we:
explain what a “dilatory motion” is;
explore what’s happening with the stalled Northern Ireland Troubles Bill;
discuss retirements from the House of Lords;
break down how select committee chairs and members are chosen; and
debate whether Parliament should move out of Westminster.

Finally, why are MPs asking so many more Written Parliamentary Questions than before? Is it ambitious new MPs – or even AI tools like ChatGPT? Drawing on new data and analysis, Matthew digs into what’s driving the surge, what it means for parliamentary scrutiny, and whether the system needs reform.
____
🎓 Learn more using our resources for the issues mentioned in this episode.

❓ Send us your questions about Parliament:

✅ Subscribe to our newsletter.

📱 Follow us across social media @HansardSociety / @hansardsociety.bsky.social

£ - Support the Hansard Society and this podcast by making a donation today.

Parliament Matters is a Hansard Society production supported by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust.

Presenters: Mark D’Arcy and Ruth Fox
Producer: Richard Townsend


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood MP, is planning sweeping changes to the immigration system. So, this week we put immigration law under the microscope. Jonathan Featonby of the Refugee Council joins us to explain how major shifts to refugees’ rights, settlement routes and visa rules can be pushed through using Immigration Rules, with Parliament left largely powerless to influence or block them.

Meanwhile, in the House of Lords, Peers are wrestling with the ever-growing Crime and Policing Bill - a legislative “Christmas tree” laden with policy baubles covering everything from abortion to terrorism proscription to artificial intelligence. We explore why Ministers want broad new powers to rewrite the Online Safety Act by regulation to tackle AI harms, and why efforts to overturn a Commons amendment to decriminalise women who have a late-term abortion failed despite concerns about a lack of scrutiny.

And with the assisted dying bill set to run out of time in the Lords, Labour MP Peter Prinsley discusses his initiative to persuade the Prime Minister to back efforts to secure time for a renewed attempt to bring back the bill in the next Session and the possibility of using the Parliament Act to force it through if necessary.
_____

🎓 Learn more using our resources for the issues mentioned in this episode.

❓ Send us your questions about Parliament.

✅ Subscribe to our newsletter.

📱 Follow us across social media @HansardSociety / @hansardsociety.bsky.social

£ - Support the Hansard Society and this podcast by making a donation today.

Parliament Matters is a Hansard Society production supported by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust.

Presenters: Mark D’Arcy and Ruth Fox
Producer: Richard Townsend
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.