The Reform Challenge: Perspectives on Parliament: Past, present and future

Since its inception the Hansard Society has made many influential recommendations for parliamentary reform. In the run up to the general election the Hansard Society asked the three main parties to lay out their party's plans for parliamentary reform, should that party form the new government. These lectures have been collected in a pamphlet, The Reform Challenge, along side speeches from the Speaker of the House of Commons, Rt Hon John Bercow MP and the Lord Speaker, Baroness Hayman, to give an overview of their ideas for reform. In addition, Dr Ruth Fox, Director of the Parliament and Government programme, examines public confidence in Parliament and MPs, and proposes priority areas for reform. The lectures were chaired by Peter Riddell (Chair of the Hansard Society).

Click here to download The Reform Challenge.

 

Sir George Young MP (Shadow Leader of the House of Commons) - March 18, 6.30pm
Sir George Young began by saying that in the last few weeks there have been some big and positive decisions by parliament to change the way it operates. He also said that he agreed with Jack Straw MP; there has never been a golden age of Parliament. Sir George said what concerned him most was the indifference people viewed Parliament with because the House "depends for its relevance on the relationship with the electorate". He went on to say that under Labour there have been some improvements, however he also said that the Government had often acted as a barrier to lasting reforms, strengthening its own interests rather than Parliament's; one example he gave of this was the Modernisation Select Committee being chaired by a Cabinet Minister rather than a Backbencher; another example was the lack of progress on the Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill. He pointed out that there is still much to do on Parliamentary reform and set out the Conservatives' proposals some of which include abolishing the Modernisation Committee and replacing it with a 'revitalised Procedure Committee' chaired by a senior Backbencher elected by secret ballot by the whole of the House; the Liaison Committee will be given a quota of 12 statements per year to allow the Chair to launch reports and answer questions on them in the House; as well as proposals to give Backbenchers more of a voice and enough time to properly scrutinise Bills. Sir George also defended the Conservative proposal of cutting the number of MPs against criticisms from Jack Straw, explaining why it was not 'gerrymandering'. He concluded by saying that although Society has changed, parliament has not and the task  now is for wider cultural reform in Westminster.
Read the speech
Listen to the speech
Listen to the Q&A

David Howarth MP (Liberal Democrat Shadow Secretary of State for Justice and Shadow Solicitor General) - March 15, 6pm.
David Howarth began his lecture by saying what parliamentary reform is not. He said it is not the same as the reform of the whole of politics, but it is related to reform of all the political institutions. He said it is related to the reform of government and went on to discuss the negative impact of the Government's domination of Parliament and the Commons. He said it is also related to the reform of local government, because our political system is too centralised and that confuses the role of Member of Parliament and Local Councillor, which has in turn confused the public. Mr Howarth said parliamentary reform was also related to the reform of political parties and the judiciary, he mentioned specifically the judiciary and Parliament's understanding of each other. The media was mentioned as an institution that causes problems for the understanding of Parliament, and he said it is the media that needs to reform in this aspect, not Parliament. Mr Howarth also said that parliamentary reform is not the same as reform of society; those who say that parliamentary reform is not relevant to the everyday concerns of the public have a point, it is unlikely to create jobs etc but Mr Howarth said he doesn't believe that makes it irrelevant, the health of democracy is an important question in itself. Mr Howarth said that there is a fundamental problem with the way our democratic system currently works, this means that there is a potential crisis of legitimacy in our political institutions, primarily because they command so little respect that they may lose their authority. He said that the collapse of state authority is a problem for Liberals, because they believe that state authority is indispensable for social justice and economic stability. He went on to say that the view that a general election will bring the legitimacy crisis to an end is wrong for three reasons: 1. the origins of lack of trust and respect are deeper than the expenses crisis 2. the type of individuals in Parliament after the election will not change 3. the current electoral system will not change. He went on to explain all three of these reasons in detail, as well as the benefits of de-centralisation of power from central government to local government. Mr Howarth answered some very interesting questions excellently, including questions on the power of Europe, some of the problems brought about by the STV voting system and how to best reform the media.

Read the full speech
Listen to the full speech here
Listen to the Q&A here
 

Jack Straw MP (Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice) - March 9, 6.30pm.
Jack Straw started his lecture by saying that there is nothing more important than the distribution and exercise of power, and that parliamentary reform is a part of this. He went on to discuss Labour's record on parliamentary reform since 1997 and said that the most significant achievement of this was the removal of the majority of hereditary peers from the House of Lords and said that the cultural change in Westminster over the past decade has been great, citing the example of the UK Youth Parliament sitting in both Houses. He discussed upcoming reforms such as the referendum on AV, the Wright Committee proposals and the commitment to the full removal of hereditary peers from the House of Lords, at the same time pointing out that having a wholly appointed House of Lords is unsustainable for a modern democracy.

Read the full speech
Listen to the speech
Listen to the Q&A

Click here to download The Reform Challenge.