The UK’s unwritten constitution
Support for the unwritten constitution – the Whig view
Support for the unwritten constitution – the westminster model
Support for the Unwritten Constitution – From the 1970s
What is the British Constitution – Common Law
The Common Law – The Royal Prerogative
The British Constitution – Statute Law
The British Constitution – Constitutional Conventions
New Labour and Freedom of Information (FOI)
New Labour and Local Government
New Labour and Monetary Policy
New Labour and Political Parties
Professor Peter Hennessy, one of our leading writers on the British Political system, tells the story that the Queen was visiting his university, Queen Mary College in East London, on the day that he was giving his lecture to his politics students on the British Constitution.
The Queen asked to sit at the back of the lecture and listened quietly. At the end of the lecture the Queen came up to him and said, “Very interesting, Professor Hennessy, but the British Constitution has always been confusing and always will be!”.
If our Head of State finds the British Constitution a problem, then it is not surprising that the rest of us do but in the following sections will explain how our unwritten constitution works and how it affects politics.